Boosting /played time /w recruit-a-friend

[Stabface]

EDIT : Boosting + Recruit A Friend is not intended to be working by Blizzard, unfortunately. So this method either no longer works or will be shortly be removed from the game.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765628748&sid=1

Q: How does the bonus experience work?

Let's say we have Account A with a level 70 character, Account B with a level 1 character and Account C with another level 1 character, all three characters are grouped. Account B and Account C are linked, will they receive triple experience?


A: Bonus experience should only be granted if the experience is not trivial to anyone in the group. Our Quality Assurance Team is looking into reports that some of these restrictions are not consistent and hope to resolve the issue soon.




I think it will be interesting to see now the difference in /played times for boosted characters with the RAF 3x XP bonus. It will really show how much time is actively spent getting XP vs other things (looting and travel being the biggest sinks on your /played time). Previously I made L35 in 12 hours /played and I'm aiming to cut this in half.

Tonight I did 1->10 in 1H 15M played... which is fast! But it's not 3x as fast as I've previously done these levels... more like 2 or 2.5x as fast.
I'm guessing 10-15 in Deadmines will take ~ 1 to 1.5 hour since it's an awful lot of running around. But 15-24 in Stockades should be super fast, possibly ~1.5 hours not including time spent waiting on instance reset. Then 24-35 in SM, should definitely be under 3 and I hope more in the range of 2-2.5 hours.

I'll keep updating as I level with /played time if folks are interested, but I know I'm not the only person boosting a new group - it would be great to have some other #'s from people to pace myself against.


Here is my /played times so far and what I did to accomplish it. I use summons to each instance to cut down on travel, and I only loot blues+ off corpses -- you can do this by setting master loot, threshold rare, and pass-on-loot yes. Then any corpse that sparkles has a blue+ on it.

1->10 : 1H 15M, grinding/mob tagging in starting zones.
10->15 : 55M, boosting in Deadmines.
15->23 : 55M, boosting in Stockades.
23->40 : 1H 55M, boosting in Scarlet Monastery.
Spent 30M at L40 running around training and buying mounts.
40->45 : 2H 25M, boosting in ZF. My /played total is 7H 55M here.
45->50 : 3H 20M, boosting in Stratholme. My /played total is 11H 20M.
50->55 : 4H 10M, boosting in Stratholme, /played total 15H 30M.
55->60 : 3H 9M, /played is 18H 39M total. I did quests, including cloth quests in the capital cities and the Argent Dawn repeatable quests, along with the Shaman totem line.

Now the real grind starts.

[Dominian]

and you just boost yourself with a prot paladin??

I use about 50 mins per level in SM cath now that my shamans are 32 and im pretty sure its slow. I do it in 3 pulls due to that my paladin doesnt realy have any prot gear at all but S3 gear.

[zanthor]

In a duo it is 1.5x the normal XP you would get solo for kill XP. Since the quest XP is multiplied as well that is where you will see the most benefit. I can see being able to 5 box to 60 in well under the normal time it would take a talented leveler to get there since blasting through quests is quite easy for boxers.

[Stabface]

Zanthor, due to the way group XP works with boosting you actually get more XP in a group of 4 lowbies + L70 than you would in a group of 2 + L70 (or 1 or 3 lowbies + L70 even). And at any rate it's simply triple XP per kill while boosting vs not having recruit-a-friend. I guess you're comparing solo kill XP to duo'd kill XP w/ RAF bonus which is true, though why you'd boost just 1 character I don't know.

[Bradster]

As a reference I’m level 40 x5. 2 days played, no boosting. I haven’t taken any time to PVP, sure there’s some afk time in there but it’s not a great deal. World PVP is dead so no time used chasing down gnomes.

[Vyndree]

Account "Main" -- 70 prot pally
Account "Veteran 1" -- new level 1 ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Kamehamehaa')
Account "Veteran 1's referral" -- new level 1 ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Nyzel')
Account "Veteran 2" -- new level 1 ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Snuggle%C3%9Funny')
Account "Veteran 2's referral" -- new level 1 ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=V%C3%BFndree')

Veteran 1 and Veteran 1's referral are Suvega's. He summoned his veteran to Dun Morogh and reached level 10 in approximately 1 hour 45 minutes.
Veteran 2 and Veteran 2's referral are mine. I summoned my veteran to Teldrassil and reached level 10 in approximately 1 hour 30 minutes.
Personal Note: the longest part about 1-10 is that quests are LINEAR and you out-level the quests very quickly. We left the 1-5 starter zone at level 7. Collection quests also hurt when they are a prerequisite to the quest chain. Both of us slowed down in XP when the mobs started becoming green and collection quests made things longer.

Lowbies were summoned to Westfall flightpath and walked into Deadmines after setting their hearth at Westfall. Leveled 10-15 with about 2 levels per instance.
Veteran 1 (controlled by Suvega) is the /follow leader for all lowbies, while Vyndree controlled the prot paladin "booster".
Personal note: killing the pats that occur after each boss slowed things down, and there were a few wipes thanks to the lowbies proximity-aggro'ing mobs. Be careful.

Lowbies were summoned to Stormwind and hearthed there. Entered Stockades. Leveled 15-20 with about 1 level per instance. Time spent from 15-20 was ~50 minutes.

~100k experience per hour total from level 1-20.

Lowbies were summoned to the entry of SM: Cathedral. One run was done before we went to bed, pushing them from 20-21 in a single run.
SM: Cathedral Times:
Time /played (1 run 20-21): 4 hours 30 minutes at level 21
Time /played at level 30: 6 hours
Time /played at level 35: 7.5 hours

This was my pull system (I do not have the figurine of the colossus, but I do this with no healers and just take it easy on the pulls... Besides, it gives me time to watch a movie while I boost. ;) )
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nj5x3M2qpYQ
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=4895

ZF took a while and was the most inefficient part of the run. Yes, we did it with a prot pally. Yes, the healers suck. Yes, we wiped during some unlucky frog hexes. 35-45 was spent in ZF with about 1 level per full run.
This was my pull system -- the more you pull the easier it gets, oddly enough. Chase down the healers when they run to kill them, otherwise they'll just heal to full and come back.
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/2381/zfqw4.th.jpg (http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zfqw4.jpg)

Strat was much easier and more efficient. The lowbies had to help heal this one because I do NOT have the Figurine of the Colossus.

I used this guide for pulls:
http://www.seraphimorder.net/stratpulls.jpg ('http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=101748#post101748')

EDIT: Well, Suvega and I had our lowbies hit 60 yesterday with about 1 day, 4 hours /played (this includes about 4-5 full wipes as we were figuring out ZF/Strat and some afk time).

For reference, here are the armories for the boosted characters--
Vyndree's Referral: Vÿndree ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=V%C3%BFndree'), 60 NE Druid (resto)
Vyndree's Veteran: Snuggleßunny ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Snuggle%C3%9Funny'), 60 Gnome Warrior (fury, might as well be unspecced)
Suvega's Veteran: Kamehamehaa ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Kamehamehaa'), 60 Draenei Pally (holy)
Suvega's Referral: Nyzel ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Nyzel'), 60 Gnome Rogue (unspecced -- didn't even train stealth until 60)

They're all revered with AD ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-reputation.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Snuggle%C3%9Funny'), which is nice. ;) I dumped about 100g into each of my lowbies and just BARELY managed to train all of my abilities and get level 40 mounts (minimal looting done until Strat). So it's not exactly cost effective compared to questing, but at least when they're 70 they'll make it up in dailies. ;)




EDIT:
I didn't realize this until I just read the FAQ again, but for sure the XP we're gaining now from boosting is NOT INTENDED and WILL BE FIXED. If I had known this when I started, I would not have done it. At the time, I boosted ONLY because a blue had stated that this was the current implementation (a non-RAF account wouldn't deny the RAF'ed lowbies of triple XP)

If it's fixed today, I don't know since I'm at work, but keep in mind this is an unintended bug. It's starting to reach into the gray-area of exploitation now that Blizzard has admitted that it's not intentional and any inconsistencies will be fixed. I will not be boosting using this method any longer due to the circumstances -- exploiting bugs in blizzard design for the purpose of gaining a competitive advantage (i.e. leveling speed) is against the terms of use and MAY (depending on severity and whether or not the GM is feeling lenient and/or had their coffee that morning) get you banned. I'm not willing to risk my accounts.


http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765628748&sid=1

Q: How does the bonus experience work?

Let's say we have Account A with a level 70 character, Account B with a level 1 character and Account C with another level 1 character, all three characters are grouped. Account B and Account C are linked, will they receive triple experience?


A: Bonus experience should only be granted if the experience is not trivial to anyone in the group. Our Quality Assurance Team is looking into reports that some of these restrictions are not consistent and hope to resolve the issue soon.

[Rodskii]

I got to 23 in just over 4 hours played time on all 4 of my shamans.

I leveled all 4 to level 8. Had my buddy powerlevel with his mage in RFC from 8 - 19. Then proceeded to RFK to 23. Spent a lot of wasted time running around so this can definitely be severely improved on. Going to SM tonight. I will see what speeds I can get in there.

Ohh and a little relation to quest bonus. The Willy export quest in RFK yielded all 4 characters 10950 xp at level 22. Ganns reclamation (completed while running to RFK) at level 19 yielded 9850 xp. It is definitely insane....

Relation for mob kills. In RFK killing mid 25 elite mobs I was yielding 234 xp per kill. 8o



http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm40/rodskii/WoWScrnShot_080608_000244.jpg

[valtrex]

I just bought 3 accounts with invite a friend about 3 weeks ago, so I just wanted to add "I hate you". 8o

[Stabface]

Thank you for the numbers, Vyndree. And the colors are just lovely too! ;)

You basically have the exact same setup that I do:
L70 Prot Paladin on account 1. New L1 "veteran" alts on accounts 2 and 3. New L1 "referral" alts on accounts 4 and 5. (Accounts 2 -> 4, and 3 -> 5 are linked.)

Curious, what technique did you use to level 1-10? I did straight XP grind with the alts to L4 then mob tagged using Earth Shock / Moonfire and an ungrouped L70 Shaman doing the killing w/ Earthbind & Magma Totem (gives full XP since it counts as a pet).

[Vyndree]

Curious, what technique did you use to level 1-10? I did straight XP grind with the alts to L4 then mob tagged using Earth Shock / Moonfire and an ungrouped L70 Shaman doing the killing w/ Earthbind & Magma Totem (gives full XP since it counts as a pet).

I quested same as you would with a solo character. I did all quests, including collections. In hindsight, I would leave the "starter newbie zone" at level 5 like you are supposed to, because 5-7 slowed down considerably once the mobs you were killing turned green. I would also skip any collection quest that doesn't require you to kill mobs.

Quest XP is phenomenal. Try to do as many as you can, prioritizing kill quests, loot-one-item quests, and then kill-to-collect quests. Skip collect-multiple-item quests that do not require you to kill yellow/orange mobs. Take "delivery" quests only if you're headed there already.

I hit level 10 by doing TWO quests in the level 5-10 zone. So there was really no need for me to be a completist about the 1-5 zone and finish everything there. Leave 1-5 zone at level 5, it's not worth your time.


Another thing that may have slowed us down is that we didn't have $$$ to buy all of our skills. I trained at levels 2, 6, and 8 but I was dumb and ran out of $$$ before I could buy the important dps skills. I didn't reach a mailbox to get my bags/money until level 7. Buy your primary dps skills only, skip skills like rend, thunderclap, thorns, etc. On my warrior, all I should've trained was heroic strike and charge.



BTW, I fully expect that this is going to get nerfed in the future, although comparing to 3x experience questing it's still somewhat unbelievable the amount of benefit Blizz is allowing new refer-a-friend accounts to get, boosting or not. If someone were to tell me about this without showing proof on the Blizz website I would've told them they're nuts, so...
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3308/flowchartcopypy8.jpg
In any case, Blizz has confirmed that boosting this way is the expected behavior. I will be shocked if they don't nerf it, but hey... I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. ;)

[lacitpo]

I'm very interested in questing XP, non boosting. Anyone running a 4-5 man group and just questing or running instances w/out a lvl 70 boosting you?

[Stabface]

Hmm, I think I should go dig up the big list of collection quests that aren't BoP or untradeable drops... the ones where you can grind them on your main / buy them on the AH, and trade the items to your alt. The 5 at LHC (dark iron scraps, etc) will now be worth ~1.5 levels!

[Rodskii]

Hmm, I think I should go dig up the big list of collection quests that aren't BoP or untradeable drops... the ones where you can grind them on your main / buy them on the AH, and trade the items to your alt. The 5 at LHC (dark iron scraps, etc) will now be worth ~1.5 levels!Lol I am going to farm the crap out of those and sell em on the AH just for this reason ;)

[Draz]

Absolutely dig that up and post it up on here so we can get those before they start being over priced on the AH!
Hmm, I think I should go dig up the big list of collection quests that aren't BoP or untradeable drops... the ones where you can grind them on your main / buy them on the AH, and trade the items to your alt. The 5 at LHC (dark iron scraps, etc) will now be worth ~1.5 levels!

[Stabface]

Found it, here :
Multi-boxer's dream: BoE quest hand-ins ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=28734')

Looks like it could use some improvement and then a wiki-ification. Any volunteers? :)

[d0z3rr]

I'm very interested in questing XP, non boosting. Anyone running a 4-5 man group and just questing or running instances w/out a lvl 70 boosting you?

Yup alot of people do. That's how I do my groups. Goes slightly longer than boosting, and is not nearly as mundane. I know some people have gotten some really good /played times just from questing and doing a few instances.

[Nitro]

I started off with 5 new druids last night, got them to 35 already and still goin strong, gonna see if i can get them to 55-60 tomorrow

[Biz]

I started off with 5 new druids last night, got them to 35 already and still goin strong, gonna see if i can get them to 55-60 tomorrowStraight questing?

[lacitpo]

BTW, I fully expect that this is going to get nerfed in the future, although comparing to 3x experience questing it's still somewhat unbelievable the amount of benefit Blizz is allowing new refer-a-friend accounts to get, boosting or not. If someone were to tell me about this without showing proof on the Blizz website I would've told them they're nuts, so...

In any case, Blizz has confirmed that boosting this way is the expected behavior. I will be shocked if they don't nerf it, but hey... I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. ;)I'm gonna be the saddest panda on the planet if this gets nurfed. With XP bonus and the 2 for 1 level granting up to lvl 60, I'll have 10 new 70's by the end of the month.

Oh, and friend and I were discussing that this is gonna put a hurting on account selling. At least on those selling base level accounts that are not geared for PVP or whatever.

[accretion]

I think it's clear that Blizzard is establishing 60 as the new "floor" and, hence, I doubt this will be nerfed. They WANT recruits to enjoy the WotLK content (Naxx, anyone?), so it wouldn't make sense to reverse course. They've clearly spent time developing their policy and that also points to permanence. Even 3-4 days /played is enough to get the basic feel of the game mechanics, plus it's a huge boost to the coffers that will also ensure a strong WotLK release.

I sure hope I'm right =)

[Stabface]

Just finished 10-15 in Deadmines, including time spent summoning to DM and then summoning again to SW to get ready to run Stockades it took just shy of 55 mins (54 mins 39s when I logged). Oddly I am at 2 hours 17 minutes /played now even though my previous 2 session times = 1h 15m and 55m which should = 2h 10m total, no idea where the extra 7 mins comes from ! Might be because I alt-F4'd out, or possibly some bug with either the FuBar XP meter or with /played. Oh well.
Next up, I'll run Stockades until I hit the instance limit and see where I'm at XP wise.

[Stabface]

15-19 took 4 stockades runs = 25 minutes. Win!
Being tired, zoning in and back out and resetting without actually running the instance, giving you only 4 runs instead of 5 before you hit L20, making you hit the instance limit? Fail.
Staring at the wall for 35 minutes waiting on the reset timer to expire is also = fail. /sigh...

Hey, better than hitting the reset limit 3-4 times I suppose!

Pro tip: Boost to L16 and a few bars or so in Deadmines before going to Stockades, each Stockades run is giving ~19 bars of XP, so 4 runs will net you ~3.8 levels. If you move directly from Deadmines to Stockades and run it like a pro, your last Deadmines run may very well still be counting towards the 5 instances per hour limit. So if you can ding 20 in only 4 runs then you're pretty much not going to hit the instance limit before you can move on to SM.
Alternatively if you like to boost a bit higher in Stockades then disregard this as you'll want to run through the instance limit twice, napkin math tells me that 10 runs would put you from 15 -> 23 and some change which is quite excellent.

Edit: Finished leveling to 23 in Stockades, sitting at 3H 12M /played now... tomorrow I'll push through SM.

[Vyndree]

Updated my initial post. Lowbies are now level 35 with 7.5 hours /played.


I'm a bit torn about where to go after SM. The mobs are now yellow to level 35 lowbies (except for the two bosses) and it's started to slow.

I know ZF is a PITA for a prot pally, but I'll have to choose between Mara and Temple. I'm leaning towards Temple though I've never boosted with a prot pally in it before, because the level range should be able to get the lowbies all the way to 45 (minimum zoning level for Strat).

[Stabface]

Hmm, I always go to 40 in SM... how badly did the XP drop off? I didn't think it was too bad.

I will tell you ST is rather bad because trolls run away, and also turn you into a frog. So you think Dragonkin ! but they still nuke you pretty hard and put you to sleep. You can try it though.

I would lean towards BRD, or dig up all the graves in ZF.

edit: Yeah, dug up my notes on ZF... digging up all the graves by the Witch Doctor boss was a bit over 2 bubbles @ L44, pre-RAF bonus. It is a little slow getting there because you have to be careful not to pull too many totem guys, but there aren't any or more than 1-2 shadow hunters (hex) on the way. But with RAF it should be most of a level I'd think per run. I got it down to ~1 hour per level in the mid-40s in ZF so... x3 = 20 minutes or so per level. Not too bad.

[Drizzit]

Plus temple is high lvl 40s there. It is sort of like an instance after ZF. Scholo will be hard at 45 too they start at 57-60 in the first room of scholo, but if you are power boosting then it doesn't matter.

[Oswyn]

Crap, I'm having a tough time on deciding to get another 5 accounts to try this out (already have 5). On my 5 current accounts I have seven level 70's and two level 65's. I have a a couple of mid 40's and a bunch of bank alts. Figure I screw the 40's and alts, I would pay $225 to transfer old toons to new accounts. This is much better than if I leveled 15 or 20 toons on new accounts and transferred to old accounts.

[Stormweasel]

Is it still quicker boosting alts through instances rather than pure questing them now the quest XP is tripled?

I'm really inclined towards levelling my first 5 box team traditionally but have a priest (one of the planned 5) at 54 already as an alt. I could use my 70 mage to boost the other 4 but it seems like a bad idea when starting out.

The temptation to boost this lot as far to 60 as possible then gift the level-ups to my druid alt team when they hit 30 is very tempting though

Oh well, fingers crossed I can get the 5-team to 60 before the 3 months is up.

[Sanctume]

Updated my initial post. Lowbies are now level 35 with 7.5 hours /played.


I'm a bit torn about where to go after SM. The mobs are now yellow to level 35 lowbies (except for the two bosses) and it's started to slow.

I know ZF is a PITA for a prot pally, but I'll have to choose between Mara and Temple. I'm leaning towards Temple though I've never boosted with a prot pally in it before, because the level range should be able to get the lowbies all the way to 45 (minimum zoning level for Strat).With a Prot Pally bootsing, I've stuck with 20-40 in SM. 40-45 in BRD. 45-55 LBRS. 55-58 EPL, Scholo, or Ramparts grinding.

[Draz]

What do you do in EPL exactly for boosting purposes? The kill quests?

[Simulacra]

What do you do in EPL exactly for boosting purposes? The kill quests?I know it's not EPL but in WPL A good thing to do is go to a field of skellies and gather them up, burn them down, move to next field. I think there are 4 fields? not sure, once u get to last field go back to first. I did this with my AOE team, lotsa fun and great xp :)

[Stabface]

Finished up with SM, I hit L40 in 5 hours /played, not bad. Updated my 1st post with times.
No time to play the next few days unfortunately, but I'll be hitting ZF this weekend.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7130/l405hoursyu8.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=l405hoursyu8.jpg)

[shaeman]

To give you some perspective on how this compares to questing.

I rolled some alliance characters (with no ability to boost them).

I thought my levelling was going pretty quickly. I was solely questing.

In 4 hours I got 11.5 on all 3 of them. Getting the gnome starting area done was relatively easy. The collection quests outside the starting area really hurt my levelling.

I also hit issue with not having money to buy training (basically I was saving every bit of copper and silver from quests and picking up key offensive abilities).

I bought the accounts online - it takes up to 72 hours for a trial upgrade to be registered as a full account, so I can't trade with the alts. I can send a bit of seed money to my veteran lowbie though so will do that.

I think i will start a horde side group of 3 shammys. Boost them like mad and gift levels to a paladin to have a nice 4 shaman 1 pally group for outlands.

[Stormweasel]

Finished up with SM, I hit L40 in 5 hours /played, not bad. Updated my 1st post with times.
No time to play the next few days unfortunately, but I'll be hitting ZF this weekend.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7130/l405hoursyu8.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=l405hoursyu8.jpg)

LOL guess that answers my question then. 5 hours, jeeeeeeezus.

572,000XP per hour? I'll buy that for a dollar.

[blast3r]

I'm just running regular questing and very little instances so am probably leveling a lot slower than most here. I jump around zone to zone a lot lately. Anyways, it only took me 2 days to pass my previous toons' levels. 26 now! This weekend I'll try and stay more focused. Wouldn't mind hitting 40 this weekend.

Blizz finally upgraded my trial accounts so now I feel normal again. That is probably part of the reason it is taking me so long. Had no gold and no bags. My gear was HORRID! Yes, I even had some level 3 stuff I was using until yesterday afternoon! YIKES!

[shockernub]

5 hours /played to 40!! wow wow wow. I have over 2 hours played on my little group of 4 warlocks and another group of 4 mages just to get them to lvl 6! I already have 5 paid accounts, I think i'll be using some of the RAF 10 day accounts to try and boost half of those groups each, i.e. 2 RAF 2 veteran and just run more groups, still sounds a lot faster than old school.


Has anyone made it to 60 using this RAF yet? Anyone seen the times to get there, I'm hoping under 1 day /played.

[d0z3rr]

Yup the trial upgrade thing totally f'd me too. Was sooooo annoying but they finally got upgraded last night. My new team is lvl 20 now, not sure what the /played is. About to enter deadmines, will also do a boosting team too to see how they compare to the normal team.

[Caspian]

I am doing this with my daughter and we have two teams to 20. She has been starting them during the day (next generation boxer woohoo!) and getting to 10 or so. We then quest a bit and hit SFK. First group was about 8 hours but she was screwing around a bunch, not trying for time. Second group was about 4. Still some poking around. I also boosted both through SFK on my Pally and we hit SFK a little earlier on the second group. The big hurt is the running around is so slow while questing. At 30 it should pick up some with mounts. I usually level through STV 30-40+. I think now it will be crazy fast, LOTS of great kill quests and the chance to level weapon skills and earn some Golds. There are also quests horde side that double up, 2 quests for the same mobs, so almost 16k XP plus kill XP for killing 15 raptors, um you can't beat that with a stick. Basically ~21k in 10 minutes and there a bunch that string together very well down there.

I really think if you pick your spots questing will be faster then instance boosting. But you need to be picky and do good quest hubs, bail on stupiud fedex and bad drop quests (which I am normally a fan of because it is just forced grinding).

Our current goal is 4 teams of 2 to 60 for 2 more free 60s. Spread them around the accounts to make Pally +4 teams. Let them sit at 60 until WoTLK and the nerf 60-70 get the Pally a druid and rogue we have to 80. Then boost the teams or maybe do a little boosting on the way to let the new starting zones clear out a bit. Then have fun. Only thing that can really slow us down is stupid school starting.

Also have another daughter and my wife that plays. Thinking of going from 7 to 10 accounts to do 10 mans with just the 4 of us. But the wife and other kid are way too casual.

[Stabface]

LOL guess that answers my question then. 5 hours, jeeeeeeezus.

572,000XP per hour? I'll buy that for a dollar.

Ignore the XP/hour this level number, it's high because I dinged mid-pull and got another 9386 XP in 59 seconds from the remaining mobs. What is accurate is the XP/hour per session, showing 205K/hour over the 30 min session.

[dquill]

I'm just a 3boxer. I setup a boosting with my mage last night, but suspect I got the wrong setup. My 70 is the referrer. I've been running through the instarting instances, with the 2 follower types. It appears they are leveling at the same rate as I always got. I have 4 hours to 17, but I've always had 4 hours to 17. Do I need to have a different toon refer (as was listed in the above post)?

I also started regular quest leveling, and that's working fantastically. 1-10 in maybe 1:45 straight questing.

[Vyndree]

My 70 is the referrer

If EITHER the referrer, or the referree, sees GRAY (non-exp) mobs, the 3x experience bonus is lost.

In order to boost with the 3x experience bonus, the level 70 "booster" needs to not be involved in the refer-a-friend with the lowbies.

[Dor]

Updated my initial post. Lowbies are now level 35 with 7.5 hours /played.


I'm a bit torn about where to go after SM. The mobs are now yellow to level 35 lowbies (except for the two bosses) and it's started to slow.

I know ZF is a PITA for a prot pally, but I'll have to choose between Mara and Temple. I'm leaning towards Temple though I've never boosted with a prot pally in it before, because the level range should be able to get the lowbies all the way to 45 (minimum zoning level for Strat).


----- ok just took my babies to sm to test the waters... id skip deadmines and go straight to sm lvl 22 and 249 a kill (1 lvl 70 2 lvl 22s)

[Lyonheart]

Finished up with SM, I hit L40 in 5 hours /played, not bad. Updated my 1st post with times.
No time to play the next few days unfortunately, but I'll be hitting ZF this weekend.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7130/l405hoursyu8.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=l405hoursyu8.jpg)


do you pull SM in one pull or break it up? that seems like a lot less time than what is possible. I went to sm at 22 and it took like 6 hours to get to 40 lol..sheesh! 3 pulls per run.

[Lyrix]

Started 4 locks with this and did questing untill level 10.. Went so fast i could skip most of the quests. Before leaving starting zone i was level 8!
Level 10 i went into Deadmines with my 70 paladin did that untill level 20 went really fast :)
After 20 i went for about 2 levels to stockades.. Really hate this place where they are able to stun you 24/7..
So i left here at 22. I moved on to SM catch all the way to level 40. At around level 30ish i saw my toons getting 400+xp per kill :D
At 40 i moved to ZF. Kinda not like this place but the mobs in there give me about 500+ xp per kill.
None elites in there 150+ i am now 44 1/2 and going to quest some in Tanaris later untill about 45 then move to strat!
I've started my locks yesterday. They have about 10hours played now. It's amazing how fast it goes.
I sure hope they aint gonna nerf instances boosting now tho ;)

[Dor]

just for curiosities sake.... can one of you 35 to 40ish ppl try zf with 2 70s see what kin of xp per kill that is (thinking about tossing my mage into the mix with my pally to kill faster) so 2 70s and 2 mid 30s

[Twentytw0]

Would it be possible to boost a team of 4 Shaman to 59, then have them gift 59 lvls to another shaman? So you would have like 5 min /played at lvl 59. Though this would require most of them linked to the same account. Is this possible?

[Nighttblade]

Got my shamans to 51 / 50 / 50 / 50 in about 20 hours....

51 = the Main Acc I referred with
50's = trials / upgraded


I used to referred characters lvling points to boost my lvl 26 lock to 50 and my lvl 23 priest to 50.. LAWL so funny ..

Just posted what I have done with the RAF thing :P

[Nitro]

Boosted 4 Druids to 47 so far and 1 druid/3 mages to 40

I will have enough gift levels when i get these to 60 that I can easily bump 5 more lvl 30 toons to 60

Currently have my 4 druid group in ZF with a 70 mage for around 500xp per kill, still getting a lvl a clear i think.

[daviddoran]

Would it be possible to boost a team of 4 Shaman to 59, then have them gift 59 lvls to another shaman? So you would have like 5 min /played at lvl 59. Though this would require most of them linked to the same account. Is this possible?

Only way to do this is to do a character transfer after you are done. You can't boost with a character on the account that is linked, so you'd have to make the 4 RAF accounts linked to one account, which is NOT the account with your booster on, and once you are lvl 60, create a lvl 1 on the Account that referred the 4 (or 3 if you don't already have more than 1 account) and gift 30 lvls per shaman. You could then in theory have a lvl 60 shaman with like 2 minutes /played lol. Then u can transfer that toon to the account with your booster, and have a 5x shaman team at lvl 60. The "free" 60 would still have lvl 1 gear tho...

[Matt007]

Just one question: I have created two RAF Accounts from my main. Now i have a Mage on another account, which is not linked to a RAF or main Account. Can i now create three new Chars, group them with the Mage (not linked) and run with Boosted EPs through the Instances? Currently i rolled up on the other fraction and questing, which is insane :)



Thanks for you help

[dquill]

Thanks, it was that. I got it fixed, and now doing well. 1-22 in 2 hours 30 minutes. Expect 60 in just over a day played.

[zkillcoil]

Does somebody have a "boost plan" for Horde?
I'm going to quest to lvl 8, then run RFC until 19 if possible. But after that I got no idea where I will continue with the boosting.
I'm horde and im boosting with a full epic tankadin.

[Stabface]

do you pull SM in one pull or break it up? that seems like a lot less time than what is possible. I went to sm at 22 and it took like 6 hours to get to 40 lol..sheesh! 3 pulls per run.

With the RAF bonus it's basically 1 run per level until the low/mid 30's.
Yes, I 1 pull both Armory and Cathedral although not at the same time obviously. My gear is mostly T4/badge/crafted stuff. Also I run with a 0/40/21 build for Sanctity aura, +10% faster killing stuff is well worth it. Stack some spell damage if you can, with trinket+AW I get 200+ a tick on Consecrate which melts things fast.

[dquill]

My current leveling is now 30, I have a total of 4 hours 43 minutes at 31



Here's my horde plan, I've leveled upwards of 15 70s. I use a fairly geared mage, and oddly enough go arcane, it's crazy for this leveling.

1-8, striaght quest, with the new plan that goes fast.

8-12 rfc, one pull

12-23/24, sfk, two pulls (first half you pull to right ABOVE the front, second half to the courtyard)

24-42/43 Cath/Arm, I 2 pull whhen I'm leveling heals. Outside of the cathral is one pull, inside the other.

42/43-50 brd. Ugly, semi slow but not too bad. Lots of pulls in there, I only do the first part. Much better with heals.

50-60, strat. Need heals for his but I always level at least one healer. I do live if I want money, or just the front of dead. aggro issues are rough if you go into the heart of that place.

60-70, netherstorm grinding if I feel like it. the scryer guys outside a52 are amazing exp, rested I get upwards of 160,000 an hour at 65.

[Stabface]

Currently running ZF, did 40-42 in about 1H 20 mins, average right now is 135K an hour.... which is fast, but compared to 200k+ from SM is kind of bad. I think I can push faster though. Using the alts to help me is actually slowing me down, if I keep them out of combat then I don't have to worry about losing aggro on the hex.
Biggest chunk of XP comes from digging up all the troll graves and running the stairs event, so for the next 3 levels I'm just going to take the shortest route to those and then go reset.

edit: Hit 45 in ZF, at 7H 55M played now, so 2H 25M or so in ZF for 40 -> 45. Ended up at 165K/hour XP rate.

[zkillcoil]

My current leveling is now 30, I have a total of 4 hours 43 minutes at 31



Here's my horde plan, I've leveled upwards of 15 70s. I use a fairly geared mage, and oddly enough go arcane, it's crazy for this leveling.

1-8, striaght quest, with the new plan that goes fast.

8-12 rfc, one pull

12-23/24, sfk, two pulls (first half you pull to right ABOVE the front, second half to the courtyard)

24-42/43 Cath/Arm, I 2 pull whhen I'm leveling heals. Outside of the cathral is one pull, inside the other.

42/43-50 brd. Ugly, semi slow but not too bad. Lots of pulls in there, I only do the first part. Much better with heals.

50-60, strat. Need heals for his but I always level at least one healer. I do live if I want money, or just the front of dead. aggro issues are rough if you go into the heart of that place.

60-70, netherstorm grinding if I feel like it. the scryer guys outside a52 are amazing exp, rested I get upwards of 160,000 an hour at 65.
Thanks for the guiding. :)
Is it possible to enter SM Cath at level 24? o.o

[shaeman]

I think you can enter all wings of the SM at 20.

I got my group up to 20 (4.5 hours).
Will be going into SM tomorrow i think.

[Twentytw0]

If I RAF 5 new trial accounts, can I instantly make them regular accounts if I go to the store and buy the keys for them? This is because I've noticed some people saying that paying online takes 24-48 hours to convert.

[JoeWunsch]

Would it be possible to boost a team of 4 Shaman to 59, then have them gift 59 lvls to another shaman? So you would have like 5 min /played at lvl 59. Though this would require most of them linked to the same account. Is this possible?yes that is possible, infact doing that you could level almost 2 characters to 60 on the veteran account because 4 characters can hand out 29 free levels each at lvl 59.

[JoeWunsch]

If I RAF 5 new trial accounts, can I instantly make them regular accounts if I go to the store and buy the keys for them? This is because I've noticed some people saying that paying online takes 24-48 hours to convert.Yes if you upgrade from a retail box it is instance, no 24-48 hour period.

Also if you call them, and have upgrade the account for you (I had to do this because of error 202 after signing up 3 accounts in a row), there is no 48 hour period, and it is instant.

So I guess you could always call them and see if they will upgrade it for you, but you have to give them your credit card over the phone so something to think about.

[zkillcoil]

If I RAF 5 new trial accounts, can I instantly make them regular accounts if I go to the store and buy the keys for them? This is because I've noticed some people saying that paying online takes 24-48 hours to convert.Yes if you upgrade from a retail box it is instance, no 24-48 hour period.

Also if you call them, and have upgrade the account for you (I had to do this because of error 202 after signing up 3 accounts in a row), there is no 48 hour period, and it is instant.

So I guess you could always call them and see if they will upgrade it for you, but you have to give them your credit card over the phone so something to think about.When I upgraded my trial account to retail via the account management, my levelcap was removed 10 minutes later.
Some of the trial restrictions are still there (no trading, whispering etc).

[dquill]

I'll give you guys an evaluation of brd tomorrow, my guess is I'll drop from the 200,000 to maybe 150,000 in there, but it could be worse.

[Doostin]

so i've scrolled through a few dozen of these RAF posts looking for anything about rested xp and how it works with the triple bonus. does it mix? anyone know?

[simpletom]

RAF and rested wont stack you will not be getting 600% xp if your rested, you simply get 300% RAF bonus while your rested stays static, ie your killing xp will not consume your rested xp, so when you ding 60 assumeing you have had about 3 or 4 nights in an inn you will have enough rested when the RAF link disapears at 60 to get you to 61.5

its far better this way imo, still would be even better just to make that RAF last till 80

[Stabface]

Well, running Strat right now, getting ~180K an hour XP. Fast... but... seems like it should be faster!
Hit 50, at 11H 20M /played. So it took 3H 20M to go from L45 -> L50... although I should knock about 20-30M off that as I spent it sitting idle at the zone in while I made a late night drive through run for some burgers fries and and a shake :)
All in all, if I ran at max efficiency I believe I could cut off 1-1.5 hours from this total so far. Any other improvements I feel would need to be a new leveling technique or method of pulling. OR better gear of course... with some T5/T6 drops I could gear for full passive avoidance and more spell damage, which would allow me to pull more and kill faster.

From L45 to L50 it's a total of 528500 XP, @180K/hour gives just shy of 3H (2.94 to be exact). So looks like yeah, 30M or so wasted on a burger. Man was it tasty though :)

[Xyl41]

Has anyone actually tried gifting more than 30 levels to a single toon?

[excalibur]

I HAVE A 41 paladin purely from gifted levels, in original starter gear

and i xferred my shammies over to refered accounts yesterday, they were 45, close of play tonight and they are all 4 of them 59.

hitting 60 tommorrow and will grind a new team after i burn all the rested xp. 4 locks sounds interesting, but they cant stand up to instancing i think.

[Liquefied]

So far leveling myself with my hunter I'm sitting on 45 at 10 hours, not buying or training anything, quested from 40-45 like 1hour or so in gadget.

[Simulacra]

My current leveling is now 30, I have a total of 4 hours 43 minutes at 31



Here's my horde plan, I've leveled upwards of 15 70s. I use a fairly geared mage, and oddly enough go arcane, it's crazy for this leveling.

1-8, striaght quest, with the new plan that goes fast.

8-12 rfc, one pull

12-23/24, sfk, two pulls (first half you pull to right ABOVE the front, second half to the courtyard)

24-42/43 Cath/Arm, I 2 pull whhen I'm leveling heals. Outside of the cathral is one pull, inside the other.

42/43-50 brd. Ugly, semi slow but not too bad. Lots of pulls in there, I only do the first part. Much better with heals.

50-60, strat. Need heals for his but I always level at least one healer. I do live if I want money, or just the front of dead. aggro issues are rough if you go into the heart of that place.

60-70, netherstorm grinding if I feel like it. the scryer guys outside a52 are amazing exp, rested I get upwards of 160,000 an hour at 65.Hi - Im much lamer than that lol - how do you do RFC in one pull? I leave my guys at the door and run around the first few mobs to the bottom of the ramp jump down to the right run up the right hand ramp, jump down to the left ramp run down into that first room gather all the guys in that area, drag them back to the door and can get about 1/2 a level at 14 just doing that and it's dead easy. However I find that when I go to get the first boss so there's so many stuns that I can hardly move, I eventually get back but wasted so much time. Might get some swiftness potions.
Can't wait for SM, I know that place much better.

Ahh sry just read your post properly - you're using a mage, makes sense then. Bubbles for the win.
So does anyone have a boost map using a prot pally?

[Morx]

Currently running through SM with 70 Dps warrior, and 27 pal / druid. Getting a level in 6 minutes is insane. lol

[zkillcoil]

Just dinged 53 on both my chars. Decided to check out the "grant your friend levels" thing and made a level 1 tauren warrior and summoned it to battlegroundmasters in Orgrimmar.
Started spamming that "Grant a level" button and the screen started flashing.

Level 1-27 in 30 seconds~. Everyone thought that I was using some kind of hacks and started spamming "Hacks!", "Reported", "where can i get hacks?", "are you gm?" etc. *Rofl*

[Freddman]

I rerolled a new Quad team of Shamans yesterday with RAF, got to level 18 in 2h and 35min :)
Going through SFK now until i hit 20, then i think i'll go to either RFK to 25 or just hit SM GY.

[shaeman]

Just hit SM. Saves losing time running to org then coming back to undercity.

I hit 20 in SM, then went in to SM:GY. 1 clear of that (as I hate GY) and it was in to SM library. A few quick runs, and a few more levels, and it was in to SM cathedral. I'm only 26 now and I probably should have stuck to the lower SM wings a bit longer, but to be honest the levels are flying by anyway. Still levelling every run, and only experienced one shammy wipe.

I must at some point go get my shammies their fire and air totems (just dont want to break off from levelling when it's this quick).

[zanthor]

I'm not boosting, and with about 20 hours I'm at 35th level on 4 shammies. I have all 4 totems, I've trained every 4-6 levels and am wearing gear from the auctionhouse I purchased @ level 22/24 mixed with gear from quest drops.

Nix 2 hours of the played for the setup time I spent on macro's. So 18 actual hours, 35 levels.

[Tonuss]

If they nerf it, IMO it will be once WotLK is in full swing and they figure that it fulfilled its intended goal-- to get people to level up to 70 fast so that they were ready to jump into the expansion. I don't think that they are shocked or dismayed by how fast people are able to boost, I think that's kind of the idea. There are probably some people who managed to get friends to start playing WoW or to return, and they're being PLed to 60 as fast as possible.

But they may not nerf it at all. Think about it, in order to take advantage of this, a new account has to be purchased. It isn't as if every alt character will be racing to 60 on triple-XP, and the ones that do are paying for the privilege. Sounds like a win-win situation for Blizzard.

[puppychow]

Its total win-win, for most people going 60-70 is just as long as 1-60, and its not like when you hit 70 the "game is over", there is so much stuff to do people will easily stay sub'd until WOTLK, which is all they want - a ton of customers ready to buy WOTLK and play.

Re: 40-45, has anyone figured out a good instance? I know BRD is ok, but damn, its a long ass run from SM to BRD. I haven't bought my alts any skills, mounts, etc and I'd waste an hour or so doing so (all are different races), I'd rather do it at 60 and get em all their talents/mounts/etc at once. I plan on just running SM till 43 and then doing some WPL/EPL quests & grinding (the farms, etc) to 45 then hit strat like my previous set. If anyone has a better idea thats near city zones or near SM would love to hear it. ZF sucked previously as a prot pally, too many runners to make it efficient. Tanaris and Dustwallow have some decent quests for 2-3 levels, but they are so far away.

Re: SM, imo just do cathedral from 20-40, its not even worth doing GY or library (esp lib, since too many chained mobs and mobs that stun). The only thing you get out of lib is the key, which none of your alts are going to need - you can always come back solo at 70 to get it :)

edit: don't forget the city cloth quartermaster quests, at 44 you can probably get a TON of xp if you get a mage to port you around city to city turning in cloth. easily enough for a level per char I'd think, with 3x.

[Freddman]

I have a question about the RAF summoning thing. I know it's 1 summon per hour but is it the summoner who only can summon once per hour or the player that gets summoned that only can get summoned once per hour?

[Caspian]

I have a question about the RAF summoning thing. I know it's 1 summon per hour but is it the summoner who only can summon once per hour or the player that gets summoned that only can get summoned once per hour?Each toon on each account has a 1 hour cool down. So you can run a 70 somewhere summon the noob account toon then switch the 70 for another toon and be summoned up and if you have more he can then summon and so on.

Vet acct lvl 70 -> Noob acct low lvl -> Vet acct low lvl -> noob2 low lvl ...

[Stabface]

I optimized my Stratholme pull route and bothered to set up some macros so my alts can assist me. Much better now, I pull more and kill just as fast so it's win-win on the XP front. I did L50-51 in <30 minutes, the XP meter peaked north of ~300K/hour XP :D

I'm going to make some videos of how I boost in SM, ZF and Stratholme... could do Deadmines and Stocks if there's interest but those are pretty simple.

[Xyl41]

I would very much appreciate a Strat video, since I've never boosted there and will soon be to that point and plan to be there tonight (38 atm). Could you just list how you do the pulls? Do you just pull alot of the undead mobs outside or do you do part of the inside? Also your paladins gear/talents would help alot.

Thanks.

[mlwhitt]

I boosted some Shaman up thru 30 using my 70 Mage in RFC then at 15 SFK and then hit SM (Cath/Arm) at 20. I am actually starting another group thought that I intended to just quest without boosting / instance runs other than for instance quest. I think with the XP boost it may be more entertaining than just doing instances over and over again.

[Vyndree]

Well, Suvega and I had our lowbies hit 60 yesterday with about 1 day, 4 hours /played (this includes about 4-5 full wipes as we were figuring out ZF/Strat and some afk time).

I have no doubt it could be done in under a day, but we're pleased with the result. It does sound like (from another thread) the boosting method MAY have been nerfed (in that if ANY person in the party "sees gray" then you lose the 3x bonus? Can anyone confirm? I'm at work and can't check). If so, I kinda saw it coming. Even so, non-boosting with 3x experience would literally be FLYING and would still be totally worth it. Not as fast as boosting, but still pretty darn quick.


EDIT: For reference, here are the armories for the boosted characters--
Vyndree's Referral: Vÿndree ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=V%C3%BFndree'), 60 NE Druid (resto)
Vyndree's Veteran: Snuggleßunny ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Snuggle%C3%9Funny'), 60 Gnome Warrior (fury, might as well be unspecced)
Suvega's Veteran: Kamehamehaa ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Kamehamehaa'), 60 Draenei Pally (holy)
Suvega's Referral: Nyzel ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Nyzel'), 60 Gnome Rogue (unspecced -- didn't even train stealth until 60)

They're all revered with AD ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-reputation.xml?r=Archimonde&n=Snuggle%C3%9Funny'), which is nice. ;) I dumped about 100g into each of my lowbies and just BARELY managed to train all of my abilities and get level 40 mounts (minimal looting done until Strat). So it's not exactly cost effective compared to questing, but at least when they're 70 they'll make it up in dailies. ;)

[zanthor]

I have no doubt it could be done in under a day, but we're pleased with the result. It does sound like (from another thread) the boosting method MAY have been nerfed (in that if ANY person in the party "sees gray" then you lose the 3x bonus? Can anyone confirm? I'm at work and can't check). If so, I kinda saw it coming. Even so, non-boosting with 3x experience would literally be FLYING and would still be totally worth it. Not as fast as boosting, but still pretty darn quick. I'll see if I can check it out a bit later, but yea, the XP without boosting is insane. My 4 shaman are 35 now and I didn't put in what I'd consider any marathon effort since last Thursday... I expect to hit 60 this weekend without any trouble.

[d0z3rr]

Jeez, those of you who are questing are going really fast. I'm questing as well but at lvl 30 I'm at 15 hours played. I guess about 1 hour of that would be setting up the ui, and misc idling. I also wasted about 1.5 hours running VC twice before I realised it was losing alot of XP/hour by instancing. So I guess I'm really at about 13 hours played.

[Draz]

Well, Suvega and I had our lowbies hit 60 yesterday with about 1 day, 4 hours /played (this includes about 4-5 full wipes as we were figuring out ZF/Strat and some afk time).

I have no doubt it could be done in under a day, but we're pleased with the result. It does sound like (from another thread) the boosting method MAY have been nerfed (in that if ANY person in the party "sees gray" then you lose the 3x bonus? Can anyone confirm? I'm at work and can't check). If so, I kinda saw it coming. Even so, non-boosting with 3x experience would literally be FLYING and would still be totally worth it. Not as fast as boosting, but still pretty darn quick.God i hope not, if this is the case, I will be canceling my 6 accounts.

[mlwhitt]

Well, Suvega and I had our lowbies hit 60 yesterday with about 1 day, 4 hours /played (this includes about 4-5 full wipes as we were figuring out ZF/Strat and some afk time).

I have no doubt it could be done in under a day, but we're pleased with the result. It does sound like (from another thread) the boosting method MAY have been nerfed (in that if ANY person in the party "sees gray" then you lose the 3x bonus? Can anyone confirm? I'm at work and can't check). If so, I kinda saw it coming. Even so, non-boosting with 3x experience would literally be FLYING and would still be totally worth it. Not as fast as boosting, but still pretty darn quick.

I haven't seen this nerf. I didn't watch closely last night but I am almost 100% certain that my RAF alts where getting 3x when I was grouped with my 70 mage boosting.

[Vyndree]

I haven't seen this nerf. I didn't watch closely last night but I am almost 100% certain that my RAF alts where getting 3x when I was grouped with my 70 mage boosting.

I haven't seen it either but I do believe it's maintenance day this morning?

I saw someone linked the RAF faq page on the customer service forums, which claimed that a 70, grouped with two RAF'ed level 1s, would cause the lowbies to NOT gain their 3x experience bonus. I hadn't seen that before so I'm assuming it's new -- probably a hotfix this morning?

I could be wrong, so don't take my word on it -- it's just what I've read this morning and since I'm not at home I can't verify it.



EDIT: Updated my initial post ('http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=98913#post98913') with my pulls and leveling time.

[Stabface]

I started on some how-to videos last night, just got up SM Armory right now... more coming in a few days though. I made a separate thread on it so go check it out :)

Stabface's How-To-Boost Videos ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=11274')

[Razuya]

Surely they wouldn't do this.. surely..

Do you have links to the suggested changes that may occur during maint?

[Razuya]

I started on some how-to videos last night, just got up SM Armory right now... more coming in a few days though. I made a separate thread on it so go check it out :)

Stabface's How-To-Boost Videos ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=11274')Woot! Please keep 'em coming man, they're great!

[Vyndree]

Surely they wouldn't do this.. surely..

Do you have links to the suggested changes that may occur during maint?

I can't find the thread that I read this morning... So I looked up the FAQ myself.

I didn't realize this until I just read the FAQ again, but for sure the XP we're gaining now from boosting is NOT INTENDED and WILL BE FIXED. If I had known this when I started, I would not have done it. At the time, I boosted ONLY because a blue had stated that this was the current implementation (a non-RAF account wouldn't deny the RAF'ed lowbies of triple XP)

If it's fixed today, I don't know since I'm at work, but keep in mind this is an unintended bug. It's starting to reach into the gray-area of exploitation now that Blizzard has admitted that it's not intentional and any inconsistencies will be fixed. I will not be boosting using this method any longer due to the circumstances.


http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765628748&sid=1

Q: How does the bonus experience work?

Let's say we have Account A with a level 70 character, Account B with a level 1 character and Account C with another level 1 character, all three characters are grouped. Account B and Account C are linked, will they receive triple experience?


A: Bonus experience should only be granted if the experience is not trivial to anyone in the group. Our Quality Assurance Team is looking into reports that some of these restrictions are not consistent and hope to resolve the issue soon.

[Razuya]

CRAP!

That sucks...

I can understand where Blizz is coming from though.

[Vyndree]

CRAP!

That sucks...

I can understand where Blizz is coming from though.

Yea, the last blue thread I read was Syndri's, confirming that the design was that a 70 grouped with two RAF'ed lowbies would still let the lowbies get 3x experience, but it looks like they've changed their stance on that.

As such, I'm going to level any new alts "normally" through questing, or boost them without using RAF. The safety of my accounts is more important.

[Razuya]

CRAP!

That sucks...

I can understand where Blizz is coming from though.

Yea, the last blue thread I read was Syndri's, confirming that the design was that a 70 grouped with two RAF'ed lowbies would still let the lowbies get 3x experience, but it looks like they've changed their stance on that.

As such, I'm going to level any new alts "normally" through questing, or boost them without using RAF. The safety of my accounts is more important.






True. Well if the haven't fixed it, I really don't see a problem still using it.

As I'm sure thousands of people would take advantage of it. I do find it hard to believe if they start throwing around bans though. But who knows.



EDIT: I can't see a quickfix or 2.4.x patch notes confirming.. I would dare say that it's still able to be used.. I'm about to test it out. I'll post with confirmation soon.



EDIT2: 3x EXP BOOSTING STILL WORKS. Just tested in in Strat 70 warrior + two level 45's.

[ChaoticMonk]

EDIT: I can't see a quickfix or 2.4.x patch notes confirming.. I would dare say that it's still able to be used.. I'm about to test it out. I'll post with confirmation soon.Waiting ;(

[Stabface]

Well, guess this whole thread is worthless now.

I for one am pretty pissed that Blizzard would come out and directly state that "Yes this is how it's intended to work" and then just a few days later change it to "Well... no it's not" after a lot of people took them up on the deal for that very reason.

Time to go 'flame on' in the CS forum I think.
edit: posted, feel free to chime in with your thoughts... http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132

[Razuya]

EDIT2: 3x EXP BOOSTING STILL WORKS. Just tested in in Strat 70 warrior + two level 45's.

[Talamarr]

EDIT2: 3x EXP BOOSTING STILL WORKS. Just tested in in Strat 70 warrior + two level 45's.

Not sure if this matters but are you on a US server?

[Stabface]

Doesn't matter if it still works -- the fact is, we have a blue post stating that it's NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK.

Just like you can still be a non-participant in the BG's, they didn't make it physically impossible - they just made it against the rules and put you in timeout if you're caught.

[Oatboat]

People are going to boost no matter if they get 3x experience or not... if you say you arent going to boost you are probably lying. Not to say you are trying to exploit... its just the people would rather run their toons through on a higher lvl than quest again. I know i sure would.
Hopefully they fix what they "think isnt intended" soon so those that do boost wont feel so bad.

[Tonuss]

So it's not exactly cost effective compared to questing, but at least when they're 70 they'll make it up in dailies. ;)An aside: I was thinking about this when I re-rolled a new group on a new server, with only a transferred level 61 rogue (with about 365 gold on her) to provide cash. While the faster leveling (via normal grouping, not the new 3x stuff) means less cash at the end, once you are level 70 you can just head to Quel'danas and cash in big time. You don't need a flying mount, or a level 60 mount... or any mount at all. And you can do more than a dozen quests a day and rake in the cash. Before long you'll have your ground mounts, your flying mounts, and even your epic flying mounts if you want them.

No idea how WotLK affects this though. It'd be funny if you could do dailies for normal exp from 70-80. :o

[Caspian]

Yea, the last blue thread I read was Syndri's, confirming that the design was that a 70 grouped with two RAF'ed lowbies would still let the lowbies get 3x experience, but it looks like they've changed their stance on that.

As such, I'm going to level any new alts "normally" through questing, or boost them without using RAF. The safety of my accounts is more important.Well if they fixed it then any boosting would not be using RAF bonuses. The only way it could be exploiting is if you still got the bonus with a booster in the group and you are not supposed to anymore.

They way Blizz explained before it was OK to do this. Blizz decided it was too powerful and, I assume (at work myself), they removed the effect. I don't see anything to worry about. Even if you want to keep boosting some toons it is ok, you just don't get the RAF bonus anymore.

[Razuya]

I am on US realm.

[mlwhitt]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1 ('http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1')

Q u o t e:

Thanks for the flip-flop Blizz. This is terrible, absolutely unacceptable for you to come out and say this feature is "Yes this is how it is intended to work!" and then 3 days later change your minds and say "Nope sorry! lulz!". After quite a lot of people (including myself) bought extra accounts specifically for this feature that you advertised and then confirmed as working.



That simply wasn't intended, Skids. We stated that was indeed how it functioned at the time that this qualification was made; but the situation was still under examination at the time. The FAQ was updated some time ago because that functionality was found, upon further testing by our QA department, to be an unintended effect.

It's best to keep in mind that the RAF system is intended to allow two players of similar level to both level rapidly and experience the content together. It certainly wasn't on our agenda to 'flip-flop' - we were only reporting on what was occurring at the time. I'm sorry you're upset, but even then, the RAF system wasn't really supposed to be a way for a level 70 character to rapidly power level two lower level characters through content.

It's still very effective and useful though, even with only two characters of equivalent level exploring content together, and I hope that you continue to take advantage of the bonuses it provides.

Q u o t e:

How'd you feel it if they took away Shaman from Draenei a couple days after TBC release? Advertised on the box, and worked for a few days, confirmed by Blizz to be working as intended... then suddenly nope, you can't make them anymore. But anyone that already had one got to keep it ? QQ moar, Suggestion Forums --->>, don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you, etc ?



Unfortunately, your analogy is invalid.

At no point was it suggested that the RAF feature was intentionally to function with a higher level character. We only confirmed that the system was functioning that way for a period of time, which was ultimately a loophole around the intended and advertised functionality.

[ Post edited by Malkorix ]

[Caspian]

Yeah that was a BS answer. They should just say that it was more powerful then they intended. And I love the CS forum trolls, what asshats.

[Talamarr]

It's obvious that Blizzard has no idea what to do with 1-60.

- First, they speed up leveling from 1-60 with the 2.3 patch.
- Then, they make the mounts cheaper and available 10 levels earlier.
- The DK is starting at level 55.
- Then they nerf Zolo because the xp rate for 15 levels under 60 was too high. Ok fine, but then...
- A week later, you can get insane xp with RAF for level 1-60.
- Oh whoops, sorry, boosting is just too high with RAF: nerf!

It's like they're torn between trivializing 1-60, making 60 a baseline and enforcing some arbitrary xp rate.

I think there's some internal war going on between the devs and the marketing guys.

[Razuya]

Better make use if it now, as it won't last much longer.

Blizz, damn you!

[Jaws5]

can any confirm if this still works after maintenance?

[Vyndree]

can any confirm if this still works after maintenance?

From this thread: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&pageNo=1&sid=1#4

No, it does not. It sounds like it was fixed during this morning's maintenance.

[Razuya]

can any confirm if this still works after maintenance?It works for me, as I stated earlier.

I'll post a SS soon if you like..

[Vyndree]

They way Blizz explained before it was OK to do this. Blizz decided it was too powerful and, I assume (at work myself), they removed the effect. I don't see anything to worry about. Even if you want to keep boosting some toons it is ok, you just don't get the RAF bonus anymore.

Right.

I made my statement assuming that it hadn't been hotfixed yet. It sounds like (but I can't confirm) it's already been hotfixed this morning, so no worries. If that's true, boost away, you shouldn't be getting more than regular XP at this point.

[Draz]

They way Blizz explained before it was OK to do this. Blizz decided it was too powerful and, I assume (at work myself), they removed the effect. I don't see anything to worry about. Even if you want to keep boosting some toons it is ok, you just don't get the RAF bonus anymore.

Right.

I made my statement assuming that it hadn't been hotfixed yet. It sounds like (but I can't confirm) it's already been hotfixed this morning, so no worries. If that's true, boost away, you shouldn't be getting more than regular XP at this point.And you would be incorrect, they have stated multiple times that this is still working, and he was going to post a screenshot if you wanted. I hate how they flipped flopped on it, stating first it would be ok, and now they state otherwise. I bought my accounts on the assumption(ass me i know) that it was going to work. Now they changed it, I should get a full refund =D. I am sure that will never happen though.

[Jaws5]

Well I guess I should have started over the weekend. I was going to help son by boosting his two new toons though

But its still good


Jim

[Razuya]

They way Blizz explained before it was OK to do this. Blizz decided it was too powerful and, I assume (at work myself), they removed the effect. I don't see anything to worry about. Even if you want to keep boosting some toons it is ok, you just don't get the RAF bonus anymore.

Right.

I made my statement assuming that it hadn't been hotfixed yet. It sounds like (but I can't confirm) it's already been hotfixed this morning, so no worries. If that's true, boost away, you shouldn't be getting more than regular XP at this point.
It IS working.

I'll repeat. IT IS WORKING!

Are my posts invisible or something? ~_~

[Draz]

They way Blizz explained before it was OK to do this. Blizz decided it was too powerful and, I assume (at work myself), they removed the effect. I don't see anything to worry about. Even if you want to keep boosting some toons it is ok, you just don't get the RAF bonus anymore.

Right.

I made my statement assuming that it hadn't been hotfixed yet. It sounds like (but I can't confirm) it's already been hotfixed this morning, so no worries. If that's true, boost away, you shouldn't be getting more than regular XP at this point.
It IS working.

I'll repeat. IT IS WORKING!

Are my posts invisible or something? ~_~Nah, We can still see them, some people just have selective quoting, but i wont name names "V"! :)

[Vyndree]

It IS working.

I'll repeat. IT IS WORKING!

Are my posts invisible or something? ~_~

Sheesh, check your timestamps. ;) You posted 2 minutes apart from me -- I'm at work so I'm slow and was mid-post when it happened. :P

In either case, I did say that I couldn't confirm it. That's still true. I can't confirm it -- but if you can that's great.

Regardless -- Blizzard has said they do NOT want this to work. Blizzard is (at least NOW they are) very clear -- this IS a bug. It is now publically known that this is a bug, and the results of which are unintended.
Are you honestly still comfortable doing this? They say they posted that part of the FAQ on Friday. So, logically, they have the RIGHT (I'm not saying they WILL, just that they have the RIGHT to) to ban anyone who used this boosting method "to gain an advantage over others" between Friday and now.

[Stabface]

It IS working.

I'll repeat. IT IS WORKING!

Are my posts invisible or something? ~_~

It's NOT INTENDED to be working.

I'll repeat. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE WORKING.

Your posts are not invisible, same as mine... yes it's possible to still do this but it's not intended by Blizzard, so it's not a risk I'm willing to take.

[Razuya]

Lol yeah I know, I'm just trying to not feel like casper :D

But yeah, it's working. I know the Blizz wouldn't of fixed it yet, I really think they're re-evaluating it to be honest. They know everyone's pissed.

Either way, my guys are almost 48 now. Wheeeeee!

[Razuya]

It IS working.

I'll repeat. IT IS WORKING!

Are my posts invisible or something? ~_~

It's NOT INTENDED to be working.

I'll repeat. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE WORKING.

Your posts are not invisible, same as mine... yes it's possible to still do this but it's not intended by Blizzard, so it's not a risk I'm willing to take.
Everyone now knows it was not intended. So what?

The fact is, if it was such a huge problem, Blizzard would've already quick-fixed it. They're obviously just thinking it over, and the amount of $$ they will lose if they do decide to fix it.

I am willing to keep doing it, as I can't see it as a bannable offence. People will only be banned if they state it's illegal. But as I stated, they would've already taken the realms down for a quickfix by now. There's something going on.

[Moorea]

I don't use boosting, just have a new 5x team [with 3x xp] and I must be doing something wrong because my guys are only level 22 with about 18h played - I guess I had a lot of "learning" but I'm curious how you guys (w/o boosting) are so efficient ?

there is still a lot of running/flying around (this is alliance/human) for me

side note : yesterday I tried to summon 1 toon to ratchet and it didn't work; just ate my cooldown without doing anything - that was from a l70 - are level 70s not allowed to summon friends ?

[Stabface]

That's fine, you can do whatever you want. Your accounts, your risk. It's probably a very tiny risk, but it's there nonetheless.
However just like everything else, to maintain a clean image for multi-boxing we don't promote unintended or disallowed things here, that's all I'm saying.

[Freddman]

Im currently boosing in SM, i have 4 accounts linked and another account that i use to boost with. I only have a 65 Melee shaman to do the dmg, but it going pretty well ( Level 30 in 6h 31Min), hope they don't nerf it :(

[Vyndree]

The fact is, if it was such a huge problem, Blizzard would've already quick-fixed it. They're obviously just thinking it over, and the amount of $$ they will lose if they do decide to fix it.


It took them until Friday to decide that this was an unintended bug, rather than a "creative use of game mechanics".

Most programmers don't work on weekends. All patches need adequate testing in order to ensure that they won't negatively impact other portions of the game and that the fix actually does what it's intended to do.

For all we know, they could have attempted to patch during maintenance, realized their was a bug, and reverted to a previous build. Let's not assume to know what Blizzard has been doing in regards to this change. So, take things at face value -- we have a Blizzard poster claiming that this is a BUG, with unintended side-effects that give players the ability to level at a rate that is not acceptable. We have a Blizzard rep telling us that developers are actively working to fix this.


And now that you have that information... you're saying you find it perfectly OK to continue exploiting this bug? You don't feel there is any danger at all to your accounts or characters?

[Vyndree]

People will only be banned if they state it's illegal


http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread…765628748&sid=1


Q: How does the bonus experience work?

Let's say we have Account A with a level 70 character, Account B with a level 1 character and Account C with another level 1 character, all three characters are grouped. Account B and Account C are linked, will they receive triple experience?

A: Bonus experience should only be granted if the experience is not trivial to anyone in the group. Our Quality Assurance Team is looking into reports that some of these restrictions are not consistent and hope to resolve the issue soon.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&pageNo=1&sid=1#4


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q u o t e:

Thanks for the flip-flop Blizz. This is terrible, absolutely unacceptable for you to come out and say this feature is "Yes this is how it is intended to work!" and then 3 days later change your minds and say "Nope sorry! lulz!". After quite a lot of people (including myself) bought extra accounts specifically for this feature that you advertised and then confirmed as working.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



That simply wasn't intended, Skids. We stated that was indeed how it functioned at the time that this qualification was made; but the situation was still under examination at the time. The FAQ was updated some time ago because that functionality was found, upon further testing by our QA department, to be an unintended effect.

It's best to keep in mind that the RAF system is intended to allow two players of similar level to both level rapidly and experience the content together. It certainly wasn't on our agenda to 'flip-flop' - we were only reporting on what was occurring at the time. I'm sorry you're upset, but even then, the RAF system wasn't really supposed to be a way for a level 70 character to rapidly power level two lower level characters through content.

It's still very effective and useful though, even with only two characters of equivalent level exploring content together, and I hope that you continue to take advantage of the bonuses it provides.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q u o t e:

How'd you feel it if they took away Shaman from Draenei a couple days after TBC release? Advertised on the box, and worked for a few days, confirmed by Blizz to be working as intended... then suddenly nope, you can't make them anymore. But anyone that already had one got to keep it ? QQ moar, Suggestion Forums --->>, don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you, etc ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Unfortunately, your analogy is invalid.

At no point was it suggested that the RAF feature was intentionally to function with a higher level character. We only confirmed that the system was functioning that way for a period of time, which was ultimately a loophole around the intended and advertised functionality.

[Razuya]

I understand that, but I really believe that if it was a huge problem, Blizzard would've already fixed it. As far as I'm concerned people should make the most of it, before (and even if) they change it. Blizzard are aware of the thousands using this unintended glitch, and I believe they will only reduce it to maybe 2x exp if a 70 or w/e boosts. It's good money to them.



We'll see what happens though.

[Stabface]

Malkorix did confirm that quest-boosting with a L70 and some recruit-a-friend-linked noobs is working as intended, and is not something they intend to change in the near future...

... I guess they don't know just how fast leveling will be through quest-boosting, so get it while the gettin's good says I.

[Vyndree]

Blizzard are aware of the thousands using this unintended glitch

Correct, and most of us "thousands" did it under the impression that it was an INTENDED game mechanic. In fact, we had a blue poster confirm that the behavior was working "correctly" as per the design.

They have decided, after the fact, that this is no longer the intended game design. They have stated this fact. NOW, we are all aware of this.

If you had no clue that the rules were changed, and continued to boost, I can see why Blizzard would be lenient.
If you were aware of the rules, and aware that Blizzard did not intend for this bug to be used the way that we have been using it, but you continue to do it anyway because you want a leveling advantage... Would you see where Blizzard could be justified in banning that?

I'm not saying anyone WILL get banned, but at the same time NONE OF US -- including you -- can say with any certainty that anyone who boosted after Friday's rule-change will NOT get banned. As of their Friday announcement, boosting using the 3x RAF bonus IS AN EXPLOIT. EXPLOITS can be bannable. They can also be excused. But none of US has the right to ENCOURAGE players to continue utilizing a "gray area" exploit. None of us would have ANY leg to stand on if Blizzard decided to ban us either.

All I can say is that, during the times that I was boosting, I did it with the knowledge that it was an allowed practice. Now that I know it is a bug, I will no longer be boosting. Now that I know that it is a bug, I will no longer encourage anyone to boost using the RAF bonus. To the best of my ability, I have followed Blizzard rules to the LETTER.

[Tonuss]

I think it's a case of "we do not want people to do it this way, and we will fix it. But it's not game breaking so we're not going to push it to the top of the To-Do list." It's possible that they will not take action against people who do it after they have explained that it was a bug and not intended. It comes down to whether you want to risk it or not. Once they've said "this is a bug, we did not intend for this to be used this way" they are practically warning you that they consider it an exploit.

I think the flip-flop was due to a lack of communication. The programmers weren't aware that this bug had slipped in, and GMs assumed that it was working as intended. Suddenly the programmers find out what happened and the GMs are telling you that no, it's not okay. That, or someone made a decision and was overruled, which is what I think happened with the tamable ghost wolf. It happens, though I do not think it's excusable when it does. It leaves a bad taste in people's mouths.

[Stabface]

I understand that, but I really believe that if it was a huge problem, Blizzard would've already fixed it. As far as I'm concerned people should make the most of it, before (and even if) they change it. Blizzard are aware of the thousands using this unintended glitch, and I believe they will only reduce it to maybe 2x exp if a 70 or w/e boosts. It's good money to them.



We'll see what happens though.

You know, I think with millions of subscribers worldwide, I doubt that RAF will be "good money"... I believe they care more about the game itself than the cash to be honest.

[Talamarr]

At no point was it suggested that the RAF feature was intentionally to function with a higher level character. We only confirmed that the system was functioning that way for a period of time, which was ultimately a loophole around the intended and advertised functionality.

Actually, to split hairs, this isn't true. There is a blue quote during the RAF rollout that said having a 70 in the group with two linked lowbies would decrease the xp by the normal group xp mechanics but the reduced amount would be trippled.

They may be saying they don't want that now, but they did in fact confirm the functionality in the beginning.

EDIT: This was the original quote on the day of RAF release



Question: I have Account 1 with a level 70, Account 2 with a level 1, and Account 3 with a level 1. Account 2 recruits Account 3. Account 1 groups with 2 and 3, running them through low level instances. Do 2 and 3 get increased XP? The wording of the faq says the mobs must not be grey to the invitee nor the invited, but does not mention whether an unrelated 3rd person of much higher level will break the xp gain.

Answer: Experience would be mitigated by the presence of a higher level character; however, the mitigated experience would be tripled due to the link. Remember, if one of the linked characters is lower than the other, only the lower level one will receive the XP boost.

[Stabface]

I'm mostly just sad I didn't get to set some kind of record 1-60 /played time without any free levels... I was on track for ~15 hours. Oh well.

[Razuya]

I understand that, but I really believe that if it was a huge problem, Blizzard would've already fixed it. As far as I'm concerned people should make the most of it, before (and even if) they change it. Blizzard are aware of the thousands using this unintended glitch, and I believe they will only reduce it to maybe 2x exp if a 70 or w/e boosts. It's good money to them.



We'll see what happens though.

You know, I think with millions of subscribers worldwide, I doubt that RAF will be "good money"... I believe they care more about the game itself than the cash to be honest.Yes, but look at RAF - it's a huge booster (literally aswell ;]) for their pocket, and for the upcoming expansion.

RAF has been a huge net increase for Blizzard, no doubt about it. They care for the game, yes. But the aim of the game is for profit - afterall, they're all working and being paid.

[Razuya]

At no point was it suggested that the RAF feature was intentionally to function with a higher level character. We only confirmed that the system was functioning that way for a period of time, which was ultimately a loophole around the intended and advertised functionality.

Actually, to split hairs, this isn't true. There is a blue quote during the RAF rollout that said having a 70 in the group with two linked lowbies would decrease the xp by the normal group xp mechanics but the reduced amount would be trippled.

They may be saying they don't want that now, but they did in fact confirm the functionality in the beginning.

EDIT: This was the original quote on the day of RAF release


I saw that too. Hence why I will continue doing it. No way will people be banned over this. There's just too much in the air.



I'm not having a go at anyone, I'm just trying to state that they never said it wasn't intended until very recently, after they found out (probably from their forums) that people have been leveling really fast. They obviously want to put a stop to that and/or reduce the rate of boosting.

[emps]

Blizzard are aware of the thousands using this unintended glitch

Correct, and most of us "thousands" did it under the impression that it was an INTENDED game mechanic. In fact, we had a blue poster confirm that the behavior was working "correctly" as per the design.

They have decided, after the fact, that this is no longer the intended game design. They have stated this fact. NOW, we are all aware of this.

If you had no clue that the rules were changed, and continued to boost, I can see why Blizzard would be lenient.
If you were aware of the rules, and aware that Blizzard did not intend for this bug to be used the way that we have been using it, but you continue to do it anyway because you want a leveling advantage... Would you see where Blizzard could be justified in banning that?

I'm not saying anyone WILL get banned, but at the same time NONE OF US -- including you -- can say with any certainty that anyone who boosted after Friday's rule-change will NOT get banned. As of their Friday announcement, boosting using the 3x RAF bonus IS AN EXPLOIT. EXPLOITS can be bannable. They can also be excused. But none of US has the right to ENCOURAGE players to continue utilizing a "gray area" exploit. None of us would have ANY leg to stand on if Blizzard decided to ban us either.

All I can say is that, during the times that I was boosting, I did it with the knowledge that it was an allowed practice. Now that I know it is a bug, I will no longer be boosting. Now that I know that it is a bug, I will no longer encourage anyone to boost using the RAF bonus. To the best of my ability, I have followed Blizzard rules to the LETTER.


There's a problem here... Since i have been boosting my toons pre-RAF and now during RAF (with 3 non RAF accts and 2 RAF) - I could really care less if they took the boosting+RAF "bug" out. BUT, i still do want to boost my guys/get them geared during instance runs (again could care less about RAF)... Are they saying, I can't run my guys in instances UNTIL they fix the problem??!?!? Wow! That is really "something"...

[Thulos]

Bleh, I just picked up 2 more Battlechests on my way home from work today specifically because I believed I was allowed to boost 4 guys with the RAF exp bonus. I just finished upgrading the two new accounts 30 minutes ago. So to clarify what has already been posted since I've just skimmed through the latest posts. It is, NOW, against the rules to use a 70 to boost RAF characters? :cursing: :cursing:

[ChaoticMonk]

So to clarify what has already been posted since I've just skimmed through the latest posts. It is, NOW, against the rules to use a 70 to boost RAF characters? :cursing: :cursing:

It is not thier intention for it to be used that way. Its a bug so if you use it you'd be exploiting a bug which if I remember right is against the ToS. Will they ban you for it? Who knows.

Maybe someone should post on that thread asking point blank "If I keep boosting this way would it be considered a bannable offense".

[Vyndree]

At no point was it suggested that the RAF feature was intentionally to function with a higher level character. We only confirmed that the system was functioning that way for a period of time, which was ultimately a loophole around the intended and advertised functionality.

Actually, to split hairs, this isn't true. There is a blue quote during the RAF rollout that said having a 70 in the group with two linked lowbies would decrease the xp by the normal group xp mechanics but the reduced amount would be trippled.

They may be saying they don't want that now, but they did in fact confirm the functionality in the beginning.

EDIT: This was the original quote on the day of RAF release



Question: I have Account 1 with a level 70, Account 2 with a level 1, and Account 3 with a level 1. Account 2 recruits Account 3. Account 1 groups with 2 and 3, running them through low level instances. Do 2 and 3 get increased XP? The wording of the faq says the mobs must not be grey to the invitee nor the invited, but does not mention whether an unrelated 3rd person of much higher level will break the xp gain.

Answer: Experience would be mitigated by the presence of a higher level character; however, the mitigated experience would be tripled due to the link. Remember, if one of the linked characters is lower than the other, only the lower level one will receive the XP boost.


Indeed -- I believe that was Syndri's post, correct?

This was the reason I started boosting w/RAF -- because a GM said it was OK. Since that has now changed, I will no longer be boosting using RAF. :)

So yeah, I don't blame anyone for taking advantage of the situation when a blue confirmed it (much like the Zolo boosters) -- but now that it's a confirmed exploit I think using it while having the knowledge that it's an exploit is a no-no. Personal opinion, of course. But at the same time I wouldn't consider my accounts 100% safe since I (unknowingly) boosted past the Friday announcement.

I can't see how anyone can knowingly justify boosting after this new announcement that it's an unintended bug. Sure, it was OK back when Syndri's post (above) said it was ok. But now? You've got a blue literally spelling it out: IT IS AN UNINTENDED BUG.

I think the case where you had created the accounts and had boosted using RAF during the Syndri-announcement that it was OK, and now can no longer play is a interesting scenario. Would I risk it personally? No. Could you MAYBE get away with it? Who knows -- I like to think Blizzard is a benevolent rulemaker.


Morally, I could never see myself stooping to the level that my own XP gain was worth more than my dedication to being a 100% ToU/Rule-abiding representative of our community. If Blizzard changed their mind on Friday and said "No moar 3x experience boosting for joo!" then I'm inclined to listen.

[Thulos]

So to clarify what has already been posted since I've just skimmed through the latest posts. It is, NOW, against the rules to use a 70 to boost RAF characters? :cursing: :cursing:

It is not thier intention for it to be used that way. Its a bug so if you use it you'd be exploiting a bug which if I remember right is against the ToS. Will they ban you for it? Who knows.

Maybe someone should post on that thread asking point blank "If I keep boosting this way would it be considered a bannable offense".
Lame. The worst part is now I have no ability to help my dudes through an instance just to quests. Hopefully they will put a patch in for next week that will at least turn off the 3x exp if you are boosting.

[Vyndree]

So to clarify what has already been posted since I've just skimmed through the latest posts. It is, NOW, against the rules to use a 70 to boost RAF characters? :cursing: :cursing:

It is not thier intention for it to be used that way. Its a bug so if you use it you'd be exploiting a bug which if I remember right is against the ToS. Will they ban you for it? Who knows.

Maybe someone should post on that thread asking point blank "If I keep boosting this way would it be considered a bannable offense".
Lame. The worst part is now I have no ability to help my dudes through an instance just to quests. Hopefully they will put a patch in for next week that will at least turn off the 3x exp if you are boosting.

I'd ask on the CSF. If you can confirm that, for now, it's not a bannable offense until they fix it -- that would put alot of minds at ease.

[Stabface]

I'd ask on the CSF. If you can confirm that, for now, it's not a bannable offense until they fix it -- that would put alot of minds at ease.

Sure, I'll see if I can get a bite in CSF... Malkorix has been pretty good about answering me so far today. /shrug

[Sanctume]

So what's up now?

1. Is the 3x XP on linked account still working?

2. So if a non-linked 70 booster joins them in an instance grind, it is bannable?

3. Does that mean, a 70 booster to non-linked, non-RAF account is also bannable?

4. So there's no advantage to buy new RAFs account for the sole purpose of getting them boosted with a non-linked 70, right?

[ChaoticMonk]

So what's up now?

1. Is the 3x XP on linked account still working?

2. So if a non-linked 70 booster joins them in an instance grind, it is bannable?

3. Does that mean, a 70 booster to non-linked, non-RAF account is also bannable?

4. So there's no advantage to buy new RAFs account for the sole purpose of getting them boosted with a non-linked 70, right?1. Yes
2. Seems that way until they fix it in which case the group would not get the 3x xp (just reg boosting xp)
3. Waiting to hear on that one
4. Right ;(

[Razuya]

Well, my 2 chars are now 50. Taking a small break from Strat. lol.

[Sanctume]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1

That thread was more clear on the info.

1. There's no bannable thing about a 70 boosting in instance with lowbies.

2. They only disabled the 3x xp gained by the linked accounts when a 70 or higher level make the kill "trivial."

[Thulos]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1

That thread was more clear on the info.

1. There's no bannable thing about a 70 boosting in instance with lowbies.

2. They only disabled the 3x xp gained by the linked accounts when a 70 or higher level make the kill "trivial."Thanks Sanctume. That is a very big load off my shoulders. I don't care if they disabled the 3x exp if I'm boosting. I just want to be able to boost and not get in trouble if I want to.

[Rodskii]

Ok I don't understand Blizz's stance on this. It was ok to boost a character with a level 70 before RAF. Always has and always was acceptable. But because they implemented the RAF feature it is no longer acceptable, so long as the characters getting boosted are not linked.....

Sounds very hypocritical to me personally.

[Lyonheart]

Holy poop! i was so busy boosting this weekend I never seen anything about this change! I had no time to read lol. i had two teams to boost. I'm done now. But I hope I don't get banned.. I mean my new shamies all wearing the Whitemanes Chapeau 8\

[Razuya]

Holy poop! i was so busy boosting this weekend I never seen anything about this change! I had no time to read lol. i had two teams to boost. I'm done now. But I hope I don't get banned.. I mean my new shamies all wearing the Whitemanes Chapeau 8\You'll be fine. If they were going to ban the boosters, 35% of WoW's Population would be owned :)

[Pact]

Im niot complaining any. Ive got a Paladin and 3 Shamans that just hit level 20.

Now ive got consecrate ill be aoe grinding like i did with my mage. At the most its only taken 4-5 quests between levels and im at 8 hours played.

[Vyndree]

Ok I don't understand Blizz's stance on this. It was ok to boost a character with a level 70 before RAF. Always has and always was acceptable. But because they implemented the RAF feature it is no longer acceptable, so long as the characters getting boosted are not linked.....

Sounds very hypocritical to me personally.

It's always been fine to boost. What they are removing is the ability to what's now considered an exploit of the RAF 300% bonus. In essence, whenever you have a 70 in the group you should never get 300% experience. Just the normal 100% (or 200% if you're rested)

[Thulos]

Ok I don't understand Blizz's stance on this. It was ok to boost a character with a level 70 before RAF. Always has and always was acceptable. But because they implemented the RAF feature it is no longer acceptable, so long as the characters getting boosted are not linked.....

Sounds very hypocritical to me personally.

It's always been fine to boost. What they are removing is the ability to what's now considered an exploit of the RAF 300% bonus. In essence, whenever you have a 70 in the group you should never get 300% experience. Just the normal 100% (or 200% if you're rested)
Honestly it makes sense to me that they are doing this. I know it makes us all sad but wow boosting with 3x exp would just be retarded. At least with the normal 300% exp I can actually play my warlock team. Also did they remove it yet or is it still in? Everything is leading me to believe that 300% exp is already gone if you boost.

[emps]

I had just asked a GM online about this and was told that I'm not doing anything wrong... That it is my choice to run my low level toons or friends to instances if I wish to... I then said that the unintentional XP bug of RAF is now playing an important role in that I may get banned for continuing to do this until fixed.. He said to do as I will and everything is alright.. Hrm.. I took a screenshot just in case. I just got out of BRD to get WP quest but will be returning there shortly.

Edit: Boosting w/ 300% XP is still there. They had not taken it away (which warranted my conversation with the GM), at least 20 minutes ago (PST).

[Thulos]

I had just asked a GM online about this and was told that I'm not doing anything wrong... That it is my choice to run my low level toons or friends to instances if I wish to... I then said that the unintentional XP bug of RAF is now playing an important role in that I may get banned for continuing to do this until fixed.. He said to do as I will and everything is alright.. Hrm.. I took a screenshot just in case. I just got out of BRD to get WP quest but will be returning there shortly.

Edit: Boosting w/ 300% XP is still there. They had not taken it away (which warranted my conversation with the GM), at least 20 minutes ago (PST).
Interesting, thanks for this info. Would you mind posting the screenshot for us? I know screenshots can be forged but it will help set some people's mind at ease.

[Freddman]

Blizzard are aware of the thousands using this unintended glitch
As of their Friday announcement, boosting using the 3x RAF bonus IS AN EXPLOIT. EXPLOITS can be bannable.
I find it kind of weird to ban people for boosting, maybe i only invited that lvl 70 do to some SM for gear, not exp. That shouldn't get me banned just because i happen to have RAF on the accounts that need the gear.

[Stabface]

OK, well, this sums it up:
It isn't currently considered an exploit.

Enjoy it while you can I guess.
As seen on TV... I mean the CSF forums.... links:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=4#59

can a blue comment on whether or not using the RaF 300% exp for instancing with 70's BEFORE its fixed is considered exploiting now?

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=4#61

It isn't currently considered an exploit, Guron.

[Kekkis]

OK, well, this sums it up:
It isn't currently considered an exploit.

Enjoy it while you can I guess.
As seen on TV... I mean the CSF forums.... links:

can a blue comment on whether or not using the RaF 300% exp for instancing with 70's BEFORE its fixed is considered exploiting now?

It isn't currently considered an exploit, Guron.
I hope this is an official fact, not just a opinion of 1 GM. Well got screenshot of that anyway, so i can use it if i got banned because of exploit :P

[Razuya]

OK, well, this sums it up:
It isn't currently considered an exploit.

Enjoy it while you can I guess.
As seen on TV... I mean the CSF forums.... links:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=4#59

can a blue comment on whether or not using the RaF 300% exp for instancing with 70's BEFORE its fixed is considered exploiting now?

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=4#61

It isn't currently considered an exploit, Guron.

I knew it. Nothing to worry about guys. My toons have hit 51 and 52! So close, yet so far >:(

[Stabface]

Y'all are really going to hate L60+ btw... lol... :(

[Razuya]

Y'all are really going to hate L60+ btw... lol... :(

I've got two 70's.

I was referring to the grind in Strat, it's soooo booooooringg!

60-70 is going to be the easiest part. The last downhill run for me. You make the most money, get the best skills/final talent builds and experience all the fun of being ganked by noobs on flying mounts :D!

[Stabface]

I have 9 70's, and after taking just 16H /played to get to 59, I am not looking forward to the 3+ days /played to level from 60-70...

[Razuya]

I have 9 70's, and after taking just 16H /played to get to 59, I am not looking forward to the 3+ days /played to level from 60-70...

Well, I enjoy the 60-70. It's fun. I follow a leveling guide so it keeps me on my toes. Always doing something "different".

It's far more enjoyable than just having your 70 boost.

[Elix]

Just to add to the stats...

Boosting with my s2/3 Priest (+860 dmg) specced Holy Nova/Disc

4x Shammies from scratch,

01-09 Quests (no boosting)
09-17 RFC
17-22 WC
22-25 SM Lib
25-40 SM Cath
40- ZF

Level 35 in 8 Hours
Level 42 in 11 Hours

[Ðeceased]

well that sucks :S.. just spent £40 for nothing *sigh* (well.. a mount maybe *shakesfist* )

as for whether it's an exploit or not (we know it isn't :) ) - Blizz could never deem it an exploit and lived tbh.

Boosting is considered a perfectly normal activity, so for them to deny it to ppl just because they happened to be linked or unknowingly be in a group with linked ppl would have been highly controversial as particular players would be cheated out of an aspect of the game, that others are free to enjoy.

[Tonuss]

I think that they took that stance (that it's not an exploit) because their own confusion led people to assume that it was working as intended and not a bug. It would seem as if they were setting a trap otherwise, getting people to sign up and boost lowbies because they said it was fine, then turning around and saying "newp! ban!" Especially over something that they probably don't feel is a game-breaker. People talk about boosting records on the WoW forums from time to time and GMs/CMs never delete or lock those threads, so power-boosting is not something that bothers them.

[Frosty]

I actually was expecting them to "fix" this.

I went from 35-36 in the same time a guild member went from 36-42, both of us boosting (and 5-boxing). :P
I do think it sucks that a lot of the accounts sold were for this reason alone, and they should give people their money back because it's missleading.

[Caspian]

They also hinted that when this is fixed it will ONLY be for instances. That you will still get the bonus grouped in the world and it would not affect quests.

Post number 36
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=2

The system will work as it is intended to work, and you can still have a high level character help lower level characters quest, etc (though this is more effective if they are not partied together, obviously). You simply can't party with them to run them through instances and maintain the 300% experience boost. I guess it is kind of ambiguous so we will see when they finally get it fixed.

[kwal]

Ok, maybe I am an idiot, but I do not get how you guys boost so fast (like getting from level 15-22 in 1 hour)
I dual box, and I got my 58 war to run me through SFK. now he isnt 70 so of course it isnt going to go quite as fast but I did it for about an hour and only get 2.5 levels. no where lcose to the 7 levels...
Not to mention aggro range was nuts when I went in at level 16 and I died a ton while I got used to it (which obviously hurt me huge.. if i didnt die all the tiems i did prolyl could have got 1 more level)
With my war I basically get a bunch together and spam whirlwind and cleave.. but even if I was 70 still dont see how I could do it so fast

[Vyndree]

I got my 58 war to run me through SFK

Most of us use either a mage or pally to AoE down entire sections of the instance at a time. You will literally go so fast that you RIDE the instance cap (where it says "You've entered too many instances recently" and refuses to let you in anymore).

See this video for an example:
http://vboxing.net/v/index.php?q=node/72

This is considered "slow". You can do the whole instance in ONE pull with the right gear. Pulling in 3 bits makes you JUST BARELY nudge the instance cap, and works for undergeared/lowbie paladins.

[Timmultiboxes]

To be honest, I think that is simply the lack of a 70 that is hurting you. I am sure as a 70 you would mostly one shot all of those mobs, being just 58 is probably cutting your damage output significantly and therefore tanking your clear speed. Furthermore, different classes effect clear speeds as well. I have never tried boosting with a warrior so I cannot say for sure, but I would imagine they are not as fast as a prot pally or a reasonably geared mage would be.

[Vyndree]

I am sure as a 70 you would mostly one shot all of those mobs

Except as a warrior, damage is backloaded thanks to rage. (Unlike Pallies/Mages who drink to full mana and just unload it)

[kwal]

oh ok i guess thats why then. If I take on 7 or 8 mobs with my war at once I have like 1/2 hp left after
oh well

[Klamor]

i have a lvl 60 with 15 mins played time :).... wow, now i gotta go upgrade my lvl 1 gear that was a bad idea....

[Vyndree]

wow, now i gotta go upgrade my lvl 1 gear that was a bad idea....

Suvega spent several hours leveling up his daggers/swords once his rogue dinged 60.

At least druids in catform start out with full "weapon" skill and speed.

[zanthor]

Just a bit of sunshine for those who are crying "ZOMG A BOOSTING NERF!!" and wanting to quit...

Two days played, 0-59.5. I'm literally two quests away from 60 at this point, The ONLY assistance the teams had is gold and bags. I couldn't keep up with training costs without help. @ 20th I purchased about 150g worth of greens from the AH and again @ 40. Other than that I'm only geared in quest drops.

I've had zero problems leveling, it's been a blast and I can't say that I would have had any fun leveling with a power leveling system such as boosting with a pally or mage (have both @ 70 in good gear).

[accretion]

While questing isn't as fast as boosting with well-geared AoE classes, I'm pretty happy to have 4 lvl 44s after ~20 hours played. I also have most FPs and save a little money in training costs due to decent faction. Plus it's nice to make 2 levels in town from quest turnins =)

edit - i spel gud

[Oswyn]

Here's a hypothetical, it doesn't apply to me as I've read the posts here and am aware of the unintended bug. But, if someone read the faq which confirmed the original mechanics of an unlinked 70 in the party and then decided to give raf a try. Can Blizzard assume that this person will keep going back to the faq to see anything has changed? I'm wondering if they are justified in this case to ban accounts as an initial action. Perhaps a warning would suffice with a suspension to make sure you got the warning. This is probably a better way to deal with this until the fix is in a patch.

By no means am I trying to figure out what Blizzard is thinking and I agree with Vyndree's post regarding taking everything at face value.

[Dualie]

Im rockin' two locks and am at level 40 with about 33 hours played. I love it, the triple xp is ridiculus and if i get someone to run me through and instances its about a level a run through.

[Vyndree]

Can Blizzard assume that this person will keep going back to the faq to see anything has changed? I'm wondering if they are justified in this case to ban accounts as an initial action. Perhaps a warning would suffice with a suspension to make sure you got the warning. This is probably a better way to deal with this until the fix is in a patch.

We've got GM confirmation that boosting during the period before the fix is not considered bannable. It's a bug, they will fix it, and they will not ban those who choose to use it until the fix is implemented. :)

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=4#61


I believe there was another post as well, I can dig it up if you'd like it.

[Kekkis]

Can Blizzard assume that this person will keep going back to the faq to see anything has changed? I'm wondering if they are justified in this case to ban accounts as an initial action. Perhaps a warning would suffice with a suspension to make sure you got the warning. This is probably a better way to deal with this until the fix is in a patch.

We've got GM confirmation that boosting during the period before the fix is not considered bannable. It's a bug, they will fix it, and they will not ban those who choose to use it until the fix is implemented. :)

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&sid=1&pageNo=4#61


I believe there was another post as well, I can dig it up if you'd like it.

Yes pls :rolleyes:

[Vipeax]

The new RAF made 1-60 way too easy lol, I started leveling 4 days ago, no boosting just questing with me, myself & I.

I am 61 now,
http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6002/wowssll8.jpg

Wish the RAF worked for 60+, then I would be 63, close to 64... ;( :P

/played @ 60 was 2 days +/- (with PvP, Orgrimmar camping etc.)

I am the first and only multiboxer on my realm, so it causes a lot of WTF spam.

[Shuri]

I hit 53 last night with /played at 1 day 22 hours. I don't think I'm setting a record anytime soon :P

Then again I haven't been boosting, just questing with the occasional instance. If you subtracted the time I'm spend idle in UC leveling enchanting, first aid, looking at the AH and being at the demon trainer looking for the right tome it'd probably take off at least 5 hours :cursing:

[Vyndree]

I believe there was another post as well, I can dig it up if you'd like it.

Yes pls :rolleyes:

Searched this morning and can't find it :(

I'll keep looking but just letting you know.

[Moorea]

gosh I must suck because I have 2 days played on my 3 locks 1 priest 1 pally team and they are only l38/39 - admittedly I spent way too much time wiping in deadmines to learn the ropes and running around to get the lock pets and robe quests and leveling a bit of eng/ench... but still... when I see l60 in 2 days... without boosting I feel bad

Maybe I should do 4x team of 1 class which are simpler and also would only divide the kill xp by 4 instead of 5 ? (and do 2 teams or use gift levels to get the 5th) - I guess I'll try that

On the other hand I'm now having a blast doing SM and worried I'm levelling too fast to be able to do each instance once (already skipped a few as I only did Vc + stock + SM (gy+lib so far; will do the rest today) - I hope to not exit too high that I can't do ulda....

[Guran]

gosh I must suck because I have 2 days played on my 3 locks 1 priest 1 pally team and they are only l38/39
You don't suck at all, you just level differently. The guys who reached 60 in 2 days need to confirm ofc, but I think they leveled purely through questing (just doing kill quests and some fedex quests), skipping instances and professions entirely. If you do instances at their right level and level professions it will take much longer to reach 60, but why stop doing that stuff if you enjoy it? Remember that you're not exactly in a hurry - it's more than 2 months before your RAF bonuses end and Wrath is at least 3 months from release.

You may not want to level your RAF 60 group to 70 until Wrath anyways, as they've speeded up Outland leveling by then ;)

[Stabface]

A final update as I expect this method to be nerfed soon. I hit 60th tonight:

50->55 : 4H 10M, boosting in Stratholme, /played total 15H 30M.
55->60 : 3H 9M, /played is 18H 39M total. I did quests, including cloth quests in the capital cities and the Argent Dawn repeatable quests, along with the Shaman totem line.

I could have done this last bit faster, I honestly didn't have the drive to push hard through Strat anymore after the RAF boost "change" was announced. And I strolled around doing the totem quests on a slow mount -- should have at least brought a Paladin along for Crusader, and optimized the route a bit. I'm believe I could get the time down to <16 or possibly even under 15 hours. Anyhow, it was a lot of fun watching the levels fly by, but, now I need to get some BoE gear and hit Outlands where the real grind starts... something like 10X slower leveling is going to be a bummer :)

If I did this again (assuming boosting still works) then I would boost to 40 and then do quests after that, I think it would be quicker. Otherwise, questing is obviously going to be the best way to level going forward with RAF once the boosting triple XP bug is fixed.

[shaeman]

Little tip. At 54 (possibly 53) go to Western plaguelands and do the Cauldron quest chain. (It starts after you burn the scarlet camp).

I got something like 17,000 xp per cauldron, then it was something like 8k,12,16,20k (not 100 percent sure but it is something like this) for handing the filled flasks in. The final step in the chain (a quest becomes available across the road from where you hand in) gives you a medallion a choice of swords (3 gold vendor price) and 40k xp.

Not sure if this is a horde only quest chain or not.

[Moorea]

Thanks ! I had fun today finishing SM - got some gear; returned the 2 ally quests for 17 and 19.65k xp each ! and dinged 40 on all






gosh I must suck because I have 2 days played on my 3 locks 1 priest 1 pally team and they are only l38/39
You don't suck at all, you just level differently. The guys who reached 60 in 2 days need to confirm ofc, but I think they leveled purely through questing (just doing kill quests and some fedex quests), skipping instances and professions entirely. If you do instances at their right level and level professions it will take much longer to reach 60, but why stop doing that stuff if you enjoy it? Remember that you're not exactly in a hurry - it's more than 2 months before your RAF bonuses end and Wrath is at least 3 months from release.

You may not want to level your RAF 60 group to 70 until Wrath anyways, as they've speeded up Outland leveling by then ;)

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1353/wowscrnshot081908031347qu5.jpg

[améthyste]

where did you guys read that note i'M searching for it on official blizzard site and i can't find it ...

[Vyndree]

where did you guys read that note i'M searching for it on official blizzard site and i can't find it ...

Which note? This one?

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765584132&pageNo=1&sid=1#4

[Ekasra]

Okay, I'm going to admit straight up, I'm very new to this. Very Very new to this. I've never even ran two instances of WoW at the same time before. For leveling, I use Joana's guide. If I was to go out, buy another copy of the game and start boosting my characters through questing, how would I compensate for the triple xp while following the guide at the same time. Has anyone devised an updated list of quests to do? It's a little confusing.

[Vyndree]

how would I compensate for the triple xp while following the guide at the same time.

Skip the quests you don't like.

Personally, I skip anything that requires me to collect anything. Collecting items multiple times for multiple characters is just lame.

If you use RAF and are using a leveling guide that was written assuming you didn't have 300% experience bonus, then logically you can skip 2/3 of the guide and still be on-track. ;)

[Sanctume]

Little tip. At 54 (possibly 53) go to Western plaguelands and do the Cauldron quest chain. (It starts after you burn the scarlet camp).

I got something like 17,000 xp per cauldron, then it was something like 8k,12,16,20k (not 100 percent sure but it is something like this) for handing the filled flasks in. The final step in the chain (a quest becomes available across the road from where you hand in) gives you a medallion a choice of swords (3 gold vendor price) and 40k xp.

Not sure if this is a horde only quest chain or not.The Cauldron quest does not open until you are Friendly with Argent Dawn, but you can start at level 50.

To the Bulwark (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=9601) Level 52 (50 min)
List of Cauldron quests in WPL (http://www.wowhead.com/?search=cauldron#quests) @ Level 50 min.

[d0z3rr]

Update for me:

Just started a new job this week (Microsoft ftw) and it has really cut into my play time. On the bright side I'm almost done with my first RAF group. They are level 51 now with 1day 21hours played. I imagine they'll be 60 easily by friday night. They are straight questing, no boosting at all. All the same level.

So looks like I'll have a crapload of 60's by the time my RAF expires. Awesome!

[Suvega]

Wow Dozer what team?

[Omehenk]

well this RAF pushed me to start with multiboxing. Doing the standard 4 sham / paladin setup. Took me sometime to get all things setup and gonna start leveling (only doing quests) soon.

[Ekasra]

Anyone able to tell me what their doing to get up so high doing quest only?

[bsdll]

Anyone able to tell me what their doing to get up so high doing quest only?

The new Recruit A Friend (RAF) program from Blizzard gives 300% (ie 3x) experience for quest and kills when you are in a party with your recruited friend and are basically the same level.

So the old quest that used to give 4000xp now gives 12000xp. It makes levelling 3x faster. Plus the fact you are in a party makes it faster again, as you kill things quicker as well.

Levelling to 60 used to take 4 days /played if you were good. That's being cut down to 2 days /played for quest only levelling using RAF.

The only quests that are being completed are kill quests - collection quests or huge travelling quests are being skipped because they aren't needed to be done using RAF.

[Freddman]

I hit level 60 yesteday with my shaman team, had played time of 1day and 13h. Sense iv never played horde before did a bit of running around etc, so i think if i did it again, i could push it to be around 1day. I boosted to 40 and quested from there.
Now i have 4 level 60 shamans and a gifted lvl 60 Paladin on that server :)

[Stabface]

Fantastic :)

I wonder how much longer the boosting + RAF will work... just got started on 4 new Warlocks myself.. hope it holds until I can boost a few more groups to 40.

[Shuri]

Fantastic :)

I wonder how much longer the boosting + RAF will work... just got started on 4 new Warlocks myself.. hope it holds until I can boost a few more groups to 40.I don't think it works anymore. The way it was worded originally was that so long as the mob was not gray to any of the linked accounts you still get 3x XP. Now that's no longer true, if it's gray to anyone in your party you won't get the XP bonus.

[Draz]

You are incorrect, it still works perfectly well for Boosting with an unassociated lvl 70.


Fantastic :)

I wonder how much longer the boosting + RAF will work... just got started on 4 new Warlocks myself.. hope it holds until I can boost a few more groups to 40.I don't think it works anymore. The way it was worded originally was that so long as the mob was not gray to any of the linked accounts you still get 3x XP. Now that's no longer true, if it's gray to anyone in your party you won't get the XP bonus.

[Oswyn]

Fantastic :)

I wonder how much longer the boosting + RAF will work... just got started on 4 new Warlocks myself.. hope it holds until I can boost a few more groups to 40.I don't think it works anymore. The way it was worded originally was that so long as the mob was not gray to any of the linked accounts you still get 3x XP. Now that's no longer true, if it's gray to anyone in your party you won't get the XP bonus.

I just tested it boosting through SM with an unlinked level 70. I am still getting RAF bonus for all kills.

[Shuri]

I just tested it boosting through SM with an unlinked level 70. I am still getting RAF bonus for all kills.Well that's good news for all of us then :)

I was reading a blue post yesterday in the customer service forums that made it sound like they took it out. My guess was that it was due to the level one exploit and it leaked over into non linked account boosting. I'll do some searching in a bit and try and pull it up, maybe it just hasn't gone live yet.

[Rudi89]

Last night took the girls (2 pairs of linked accounts) and my lvl 70 mage to Stockades. All 4 of the RaF accounts were getting 3x XP from kills, I believe. While I don't know the exact penalty for having a lvl 70 in group they were getting about twice what they would have been getting in a normal, non-3x run.

[d0z3rr]

Wow Dozer what team?

Primary Field Engineer, Public Sector. Something like that.

[Aethon]

Fantastic :)

I wonder how much longer the boosting + RAF will work... just got started on 4 new Warlocks myself.. hope it holds until I can boost a few more groups to 40.I don't think it works anymore. The way it was worded originally was that so long as the mob was not gray to any of the linked accounts you still get 3x XP. Now that's no longer true, if it's gray to anyone in your party you won't get the XP bonus.

I just tested it boosting through SM with an unlinked level 70. I am still getting RAF bonus for all kills.


My problem is, I have a 70 mage, but it's linked to the other accounts :-/ I think I'll still try it anyway. even regular xp is still group xp with a 70 run

[Tonuss]

Personally, I skip anything that requires me to collect anything. Collecting items multiple times for multiple characters is just lame.
I've been thinking of keeping a list of collection quests with a 100% drop rate. Offhand I know about the raptor heads quest in the Crossroads and the stag meat/buck hides quests in Azuremyst Isle. Since the drop is guaranteed, you know how many mobs you need to kill. So it's like a "kill X" quest with a higher-than-normal amount of X. :)

[Ekasra]

Another question, alright, I have a druid at 16 and a priest at 12. How does one solo WC with a Prot pally effectively?

[badashh]

Skip WC, do RFC then SFK once you are around 17-18

[Abyssal]

skip RFC :P

you can get in SFK at level 10, pull everything up to the big wolf boss back to the entrance (where the newbs sit, they don't move after zoning in), you'll get to level 12 in one pull

Using a holy pally (holy shock = heals on the go ;) ) I got my new pally to level 30 (so I could grant levels with my shaman to 60) in about 3 hours /played. Quested in eversong to 10, SFK to 20, SM to 30... easy. I do SM cathedral in 2 pulls, takes about 12 minutes per run.

[Ekasra]

skip RFC :P

you can get in SFK at level 10, pull everything up to the big wolf boss back to the entrance (where the newbs sit, they don't move after zoning in), you'll get to level 12 in one pull

Using a holy pally (holy shock = heals on the go ;) ) I got my new pally to level 30 (so I could grant levels with my shaman to 60) in about 3 hours /played. Quested in eversong to 10, SFK to 20, SM to 30... easy. I do SM cathedral in 2 pulls, takes about 12 minutes per run.So what exactly would I do, just pull up to what boss and reset or do the entire instance. The curse is deadly.

[Quix]

I do SFK with a mage, but if you run the lowbies just inside the door, up to the fence, you can very easily 4-5 pull the instance in horrible gear in under 10 minutes guerenteeing you are going to hit the instance cap per hour.

1. Park lowbies at the fence just inside the door & Set ML if you care about loots.

2. Pull everything up to the guy that opens the door to the courtyard, & talk to the guy with them beating on you. Kill them by the door. Lowbies get full xp

3. Pull everything in the instance to a spot just above the lowbies, as you are comming around a corner outside before going in to ODO the blindwatcher. You should be directly above your lowbies.

4. Pull everything up to the Fenrus (sp...) , the big wolf in the room where the voidwalkers spawn, bring those back just a bit into the hallway & kill.

5. Kill the next guy before the boss in the hallway just outside of his room

6. Kill Argual in the same spot you killed number 5.

Jump off the ledge where you did point 3. you are right next to your lowbies.

Profit!

You could do 4 5 & 6 togeather , if the stupid doors would open...

[Abyssal]

skip RFC :P

you can get in SFK at level 10, pull everything up to the big wolf boss back to the entrance (where the newbs sit, they don't move after zoning in), you'll get to level 12 in one pull

Using a holy pally (holy shock = heals on the go ;) ) I got my new pally to level 30 (so I could grant levels with my shaman to 60) in about 3 hours /played. Quested in eversong to 10, SFK to 20, SM to 30... easy. I do SM cathedral in 2 pulls, takes about 12 minutes per run.So what exactly would I do, just pull up to what boss and reset or do the entire instance. The curse is deadly.

I zone in, kill the first two mobs (they aggro newbs if they're below 16 or 17 at zone in), then park the newbs at the fence. I grab everything up to the gatekeeper guy, kill (you can open the door and talk to him in combat, but he takes a long time, so just kill what you have). Then I run grab the mobs on the right side of the courtyard, mana tap the one guy near the horses. Take the right path, up the ramp, grab everything towards Springvale, outside to the guys that AE silence, to Odo, the curse guys, the werewolf stairs room, up the spiral to Fenrus. Now the way back the way you came, take the path to the banquet room, grab the Baron and the Butcher, on to the courtyard and grab anything you missed the first time, run to the gate and kill everything. Once everything is dead, I pick through a few corpses (set it to master loot if you want gear for the newbs), then run out. I bubble before exiting each time, so the curses aren't an issue. If you want caster loot you can go back and grab the rest of the instance, but if you're boosting, the gear level of the newbs really shouldn't be an issue.

That whole run is 104 mobs, plus the 2 at the start and whatever is near the gatekeeper, 15ish.

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Kil%27jaeden&n=Sparklepants

This is who I run it with, I only really use this character for boosting. I don't use ret aura or the petrified lichen guard for SFK, since it's a long run and I don't want anything dying along the way. I do use blessing of sanctuary, it's a must have for mass pulls. I have a macro that casts holy shock on myself whenever I need a heal, I cleanse often; mainly because it's something to do. I don't attack anything (again, don't want anything dying along the way), body aggro is enough, and when you get a good group on you, things aggro even easier. Once I get back to the newbs I drop concecration (might have to wait for silences to wear off), pop wings and both trinkets (macro for all 3 at once). Takes 2 or 3 concecrations for the majority to die, then melee or wait a bit for the magic immune bubbles to wear off the werewolves.

There's only one mob that'll reset in this pull, the Bloodseeker bat near Odo. The other bat follows just fine, however.


For SM I run Cathedral exclusively. Kill the 5 guys in the starting hallway (that first one will aggro newbs until 31-32), do not start the main pull with the newbs in combat. Park the newbs by the weapon racks in that hallway. Run through both levels, grabbing everything, drop rank 1 concecration every time it's up (casters will reset if you don't), cleanse all the frostbolts and slows, holy shock for heals (normal healing is impossible, the defenders shield bash). Bring everything back to the starting hall, LOS the casters around the corner. When things start running away, reposition into the doorway so the casters don't sit back near the newbs and have a chance at killing them. Run up to the doors with the newbs, run straight to Mograine and drop concecration, don't attack him directly so you can kill everything else before Whitemane casts sleep. Once everything is on me (occationally there are mobs that walk instead of run when Mograine is aggroed) I tap autorun on the newbs and sit them behind one of the pillars in front of where I'm fighting. You can leave them back at the door, but it can be iffy with loot and exp range, I prefer to play it safe.


... ok, really long post, lol... have fun :thumbsup: